Jessica is a board-certified music therapist and completed her certification in Music Therapy Assisted Childbirth. She offers parent-child early childhood music-making experiences through her practice, Ensemble Music.
Learn the impact of developmentally appropriate music and movement on infant’s behavior and the parent-infant relationship. Participants will learn several songs and ways to approach music with their youngest clients and their parents that they will be able to implement on Monday.
Infants are born sounders and movers. Parenting that includes developmentally appropriate music and movement experiences for infants naturally support the infant-parent relationship which, in turn, supports the infant’s neurological development and social-emotional development. Infant-directed singing provides essential ingredients for supporting babies’ ability to self-soothe, a foundational skill in self-regulation. Purposeful touch paired with experiences of music promotes a variety of early physiologic and emotional-relational benefits. Attention will be paid to how music is perceived by the developing fetus and how to structure experiences of music to strengthen the bond between parents and infants before birth. Participants will learn new songs and deepen their understanding of a developmentally appropriate approach to being musical with their youngest students. Music therapists working with groups of families in a developmentally focused approach will find this session immediately helpful in their work.
