Did you know that April 10th through 15th is World Music Therapy Week?  World Music Therapy Week is an annual celebration that shines a light on the power of music to change lives. Music therapists can address various non-musical goals within a therapeutic relationship. Music therapy can help with speech, language, motor, cognitive, psychological, and social needs, and more! Music has the power to improve well-being. As we say at Perfect Harmony Health, music therapy can ‘Connect the Brain, Compose the Mind, and Synchronize the Body.’ During this week, clinicians, educators, and those imp ..read more

Happy World Down Syndrome Day! Today is a day to celebrate the extra personalities, laughs, and smiles that those with Down Syndrome bring us! To celebrate, we want to share a wonderful local resource available: Gigi’s Playhouse! Gigi’s Playhouse is a non-profit with locations all around the United States, but specifically, one in Alpharetta, GA! It is right down the street from our practice and has just opened a brand new portion of its facility! “GiGi’s Playhouse was created to change the way the world views a Down syndrome diagnosis and send a global message of acceptance for all.” Sim ..read more

What is rheumatoid arthritis? Arthritis = inflammation of the joint Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that makes the body’s immune system mistakenly attack your joints, causing pain and inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis is different from osteoarthritis, which is the most common in older adults.  Symptoms Organ damage in the lungs, eyes, or heart. Pain/aching in multiple joints Joint stiffness Tenderness/swelling in multiple joints Weight loss Fever Fatigue/tiredness Weakness Same symptoms on both sides of the body Prevention and Control Specifically, reduc ..read more

I was watching a television show with my husband recently when a poignant scene unfolded where an adult son and his mother were arguing. To settle the argument, he went to a piano and played a song most of us know well, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The show writers didn’t include the backstory, but as they both started to sing together and the tension lifted, it was evident that there was a backstory and that this was a shared song between the two that brought down their heightened emotions and reminded them of their shared love for each other and made the ..read more

As I sat down to write this article, I was considering the vast diversity of populations we serve at PHH and I found these two very different programs on my mind. One, a therapeutic choir for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), where adults from the greater Atlanta area congregate once a week to engage in Neurologic Music Therapy exercises and learn music specifically chosen to support their vocal production and maintenance. The other, a social skills performing arts group for teens and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome, and other developmental and neurolo ..read more

Singing is more than just singing when a neurological condition is involved. For those with these conditions, a brief conversation can leave them out of breath. For them, singing becomes a race - a marathon, even! Long-term neurological conditions (LTNCs) such as Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy are shown to cause a decline in respiratory function. These adverse effects are attributed to the weakness of respiratory muscles which causes insufficient lung volumes and a reduction in ventilation. This impairs gas exchange and retains carbon dioxi ..read more

As we quickly approach the holiday season, music is everywhere. We sing at parties, family gatherings, traditions, and more. When we decorate our Christmas tree or when we light our Hanukkah, singing brings people together. When we think of the holidays, we might even think of our favorite holiday songs that we look forward to hearing on the radio or on our favorite Spotify playlist. No matter where we hear it, these songs that we hold so dear to our hearts can also have therapeutic effects. Therapeutic singing (TS) is defined as, “the more generalized use of singing activities for a variety o ..read more

Music holds a lot of significance around the holidays. The resource book for holiday music is ever growing but there continue to be classics that stick with us throughout the years. Despite holiday music being lumped into one large category, the reality is there are tons of ‘genres’ and types of holiday tunes that you may hear. There is Christmas music, Chanukah music , Kwanzaa music, and even winter solstice music. Then of course we have the tons of secular winter music that people love and cherish. The categories can be separated even further when you talk about traditional music vs more mai ..read more

Wear green to support World Cerebral Palsy Day! October 6th is World Cerebral Palsy (CP) Day - a day aimed at bringing together people living with cerebral palsy, their families, and supporters all over the world. To celebrate World CP Day, we wanted to share a little bit about how neurologic music therapy® can be beneficial for those living with CP.  Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability affecting children, and affects 17 million people worldwide into adulthood. CP is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain that affects a person's ability to ..read more

On February 10th, 1995, I became a big sister for the first time. My little (now much bigger) bro, Jay, came into the world on his own terms and has pretty much been living that way ever since.  That day I was excited to be a big sister and to impart all my sisterly wisdom to my unsuspecting playmate, but the reality is that to this day, he has taught me far more.  After his birth, we learned that Jay was Deaf. A world that was completely unknown to my family of speakers and singers. I have to be honest in saying the weight of that didn’t sit with me much. My parents dealt with the ..read more