Music Therapy ‘Taster’ Sessions

In partnership with Āhuru Mōwai Trust

‘Taster’ Sessions with Āhuru Mōwai Trust

Āhuru Mōwai Trust is a charitable organisation which supports whānau who have tamariki with additional needs. The Trust’s focus is on establishing spaces that enrich the lives of these tamariki and their whānau: Places where they find acceptance, respite and support.

Āhuru Mōwai Trust runs two sensory sessions at Awesome Bounce in Elsdon; a ‘low’ sensory session on a Tuesday evening (6.30-8.30 pm) and a ‘high’ sensory session on a Thursday evening (6.30-8.30). All families who have neurodivergent children or children with a disability of any kind are welcome. The sessions run for 2 hours and the entry fee (currently $10) covers entry for the whole whānau. For more information about Āhuru Mōwai Trust and their mahi, go to their website: Āhuru Mōwai Trust.

In 2023, the Little Musical Caravan partnered with Āhuru Mōwai Trust to offer music therapy at their ‘high’ sensory sessions. The purpose was to introduce music therapy to families who hadn’t heard of music therapy before or weren’t able to access one-on-one sessions elsewhere; to allow these families the opportunity to ‘test drive’ music therapy; and to connect new families with the existing community attending Awesome Bounce.

July 2024 survey

In July 2024, we sought feedback from our Awesome Bounce caregivers to find out whether they had learnt anything more about music therapy and whether they had found it helpful to connect in with other Awesome Bounce whānau.

We found that overall, there was an increase in caregivers’ understanding that music could be used as a tool to support growth in non-musical areas (like regulation, sense of self and communication.) Sessions had a positive impact on their tamariki, with high engagement levels. Caregivers who chose to connect with other whānau at Awesome Bounce found this to be a “kind and welcoming” community and the sense of connection and belonging was clearly valued.

“AMT’s sensory sessions are really helpful for bringing families together and creating community support.”

You can read the full report here: July 2024 survey.

Our Music Therapist

For 2025, Registered Music Therapist Deb Bellringer will be running our ‘taster’ sessions at Awesome Bounce.

Deb joins us with a background as a support worker assisting adults with disabilities in the community. She has worked in a specialist school using music to support children with high needs and at a day centre for adults. She also has experience with running community music groups.

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‘Taster’ Sessions

Our ‘taster’ sessions include:

  • A one-off session to see whether music therapy might be a fit for your child
  • A single term block of music therapy sessions (usually 9-10 weeks) for your child to ‘test drive’ music therapy.
  • An email summary of your child’s ‘taster’ sessions.

Cost: $15. Includes a 30 min one-on-one music therapy session and 2 hour entry for the whole whānau to the ‘high’ sensory session.

 

Register your interest now!

One-off ‘taster’ sessions are held during the school holidays.

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL!

Please fill out this form to register your interest in our ‘taster’ sessions, held in partnership with Āhuru Mōwai Trust at their ‘high’ sensory sessions on Thursday evenings at Awesome Bounce.

This will be only be used to provide you with a link to our parent portal so that you can access notes about your child's music therapy session. Alternatively, these notes can be emailed to you directly - just let your therapist know.
Please note that due to Music Therapy New Zealand's Code of Ethics, we are unable to work with your child if they are already accessing one-to-one music therapy services elsewhere. It may be possible to work with your child if they only have access to group music therapy (at school for example) but this is assessed on a case by base basis and requires careful liaison. You can give further details of this below.