The Impact of Music Therapy on Children with Behavioral Problems

There are many roads to therapeutic treatment. Music therapy is one that uses sounds to help people deal with traumatic events in their lives. Through music, patients can be rehabilitated from physical and emotional ailments.

Music therapists are often licensed psychologists who have done further study in music therapy. They are trained in other therapy techniques to use with their patients besides music. Music is one way that they communicate with their patients. Children are often treated with music therapy. Much like art therapy, the reward is in the journey and creation of work, not the end product necessarily.

The old adage used in cartoons that “music calms the savage beast” may not be that far off. When we are dealing with behavioral issues, it can seem like our child has a beast living within them. It has taken over your precious little one and you are at a loss to stop it.

Music is a very powerful tool. Even for someone who is not experiencing behavioral problems, listening to music can evoke a wide range of emotions. Simple rhythms can relax you. Upbeat fast tunes can make you happy and your heart race. Lower notes can inspire fear or danger. In a few simple notes played on various instruments you can unlock what is going on inside of another person.

This is what trained music therapists have been striving to do with disturbed children, with some success. Behavioral issues can be a result of an emotional trauma, physical disability or mental imbalance of some kind. Getting at the heart of the problem is what music therapy is all about.

With music therapy, a child is not simply listening to music but also participating in creating it. Listening is done and responses noted, but there are other components. Children are exposed to live performances, how to create music, and improvisation. Musical selections are also shown with visual images as a way of guiding behavior patterns.

Music seems to work because it is open to interpretation by anyone and everyone. It is a medium that becomes what the person wants it to be. For children, it doesn’t intimidate them. It can help children feel safe enough to talk about their trauma and begin to heal. Therapists can discover underlying problems causing behavioral issues not related to developmental deficiencies.

Only a trained therapist need engage in music therapy. Through examination of their child patient, they can devise a course of treatment using the appropriate musical intervention to bring about the best result. Children can relearn destructive behaviors and live normal lives.

Music therapy is one way that has been found to deal with children suffering from behavioral problems. Through varying levels of musical learning, families and these children are getting the treatment they need.

Dream Job

Have you changed? Your job started out being what you wanted, but today it is different. Maybe you thought of it as a jumping place to a better job in the future, but you have been here 5 plus years.

It is a fact that your dream job is waiting on you, so don't continue in a miserable job, boring or basically unsatisfying, even questionable for basic survival. Your time is NOW to get out!

Satisfaction & fulfillment is your aim, not being in a "make do" position for an extended period!

When people think of dream jobs, all often, they think of the jobs that they thought about when they were children.

As a child, you probably thought about being a doctor or a lawyer, a nurse, even an astronaut when you finished college. Truth is, few of us kept the objective in mind for those jobs & gave up; in other words, you felt you were settling.

The problem is, lots of those people carried the disappointment they felt from learning that they couldn't do the jobs that they wanted as babies into their adult lives.

Few people follow through with their childhood dreams, but the fact is, those childhood dreams probably would not have made you happy anyway.

Your needs & beliefs about a nice job when you were a child will be far different from your needs as an adult, & you'll find that if you consider your needs as an adult, you'll have a much better chance of finding your real dream job.

Think about what makes you happy, & what you need in terms of job security, monetary pay & challenges.

The first step in searching for your dream job is actually realizing that the one you are in right now isn't going to make you happy.

Have you been waiting on a promotion or raise that never comes, or do you feel that your efforts are wasted on a routine basis?

Perhaps you feel that they don't appreciate you, or you silently think that you are so much better than this. All of these feelings are valid; the important thing to realize is that they are feelings that should be acted upon.

When you take a look at the feelings of discontent that you have amassed about your job, realize that you spend a quarter of your life at work. Your life is basically short to feel like that for a fourth of it!

More people find their dream jobs than you might think; for a fact, it is imperative to make your time count as you search.

Help is obtainable for you to discover the career job of your dreams. Your mindset is key when you begin to look.

Debt Reduction - Save Money & Do It Yourself

Accelerated debt reduction is usually advertised by debt settlement companies wanting you to believe that the only way to get rid of debt quickly is to negotiate with your creditors to accept a reduced amount of money as payment for what you owe them.

The truth is there really are ways to create an accelerated debt reduction plan on your own that could see you become debt free as well as teaching you important lessons about financial responsibility at the same time.

Before You Begin

Perhaps the best way to begin working on an accelerated debt reduction plan is to take a good look at your current budget and spending habits. Create a quick budget or write out a list of income and expenses so you know how much you’re spending. If you can see any areas at all where you might be able to cut back your spending, then work on this now.

Reduce Costs

Many people believe that trying to save 50 cents on a grocery bill is the right thing to do when they’re trying to reduce debt. Instead of worrying about your living expenses, take a look at how much your consumer debts are costing you. If you didn’t have to pay those every month, how much of your income would you have left over for yourself?

Work on finding ways to reduce the amount of interest you pay each month. This could mean catching up any delinquent payments to stop those penalty fees from accumulating. It could also mean consolidating some of the more expensive debts into a lower interest option.

If you have the option, then consider transferring the balance of a high interest credit card over to a low or no interest option. Once your interest costs have been reduced, take advantage of that introductory period to pay down as much of that balance as possible before normal interest rate charges start again.

Raise Income

One of the best ways that most people achieve financial freedom is through increasing their income.  While it’s not possible for everyone to walk into the boss and demand a pay rise, there are other things you can do to raise some extra cash to get rid of those debts. Millions of dollars worth of regular items are sold every day on eBay. Take a look around your home and put anything you don’t use any more on eBay. 

If this doesn’t appeal to you, hold a yard sale and see if you can raise a little cash this way. Not only will you be un-cluttering your home, you’ll be un-cluttering your debts at the same time. Whatever money you raise, put this immediately towards paying down your debt balances. This will give you a huge head start and keep your motivation high.

Discipline

If you’ve managed to reduce your monthly repayment costs, then the best accelerated debt reduction method is to have the discipline to allocate those savings towards making extra payments on your debts.

Whenever you receive a pay rise or a bonus or a little extra cash from any source, put it straight off the balance of your debts. Many people hate this part of the discipline stage, preferring to spend bonuses on treats.

Having the discipline to pay extra money off your debts now and go without those treats temporarily will mean you should have far more money to enjoy every month once those debts and the expensive repayments are gone for good.

Good luck with your accelerated debt reduction journey.

Ending Relationships And Getting Over Them

There are times when a relationship will end. There are many reasons that this occurs. There are also many different lengths of time that a relationship has gone on before it ends. Sometimes people will have been in a relationship for many years and other times they will have only been together for a few months. However, no matter how long the relationship has been established, there are still certain things that are true for every relationship that ends.

The end of a relationship will impact both people. They will both be hurt and have a wide range of emotions. No matter who is at fault or even if someone is at fault, it is going to change both parties. They will both be emotionally drained for a long period of time. They may not have any desire to be around anyone, even friends. Oftentimes a relationship that ends, whether good or bad, results in depression. Other times it leaves people angry and hostility becomes an issue for them for any length of time. They are blaming the other person or something has happened that ended the relationship that has made them angry. No matter what the situation is, the emotions have to be dealt with.

It is a very bad idea to try to jump into a new relationship right after a relationship has ended. However, many people do this. They have gotten used to having someone in their life. They miss having that and do not know what to do about it. So, they try to find another person to fill that void. However, this is a destructive pattern. It is also unfair to the other person that they are pulling into their negative pattern.

They are offering a false sense of themselves. They are pretending that they are in the relationship for the relationship. The other person has no idea that there is anything else going on. However, in most cases, the two people are not compatible with each other and they end up in a very bad situation.

They will not stay together and in time the relationship will completely deteriorate. The person that was using the relationship is now empty and alone once again and in most cases they are much more emotional and hurt than they were when they started.

The particular circumstances surrounding the relationship will factor into everything and determine how a relationship ends. If it was simply dating, then it will end easier than if it was a live in situation or if there were children involved. There are no specific rules about relationships and dating.

There are also no specific rules about how these relationships will end. Each person, each relationship, each life has its own dynamics and ideals. If a break up is mutual and simply due to the fact that the people are not compatible, it can be easier to end the relationship and keep things on good terms. If there are issues that have caused the relationship to deteriorate on the part of one person, then the relationship is much more likely to end in a bad way and with anger.

College Dating Challenges

So, you're in college. In theory, you are going there to get an education. In reality, you are also interested in having a social life. Besides, you will have all kinds of single people around your age as potential friends. With all of that, why is college dating so challenging? Let's look at some possible answers to this important question.

Not to sound trite, but college students are going through a major transition to total independence and adulthood. That alone is a huge challenge. Plus, expectations are higher from the students themselves, others around them, as well as what's expected academically. While some college students are teenagers, they are also adults by most measures. On top of all of this, college students are away from long-held relationships they have formed. Family, team mates, friends, acquaintances and girlfriends and boyfriends are usually left behind once the student is in college.

Just how daunting is it to deal with these personal, physical, emotional and academic changes? College can be quite intimidating, especially for students who are attending school far from home. Moving not only means the loss of relationships, but also leaving behind their usual emotional support system, whether family, friends or place of worship. All of these new expectations and experiences only make college dating more complicated. Add to that the fact that almost everybody at any given college come from different backgrounds. That results in there being less common ground on which to connect with and build upon.

One thing to keep in mind about dating in college is to not approach it in an overly-serious manner. There is already more than enough serious things to deal with for any college student, dating doesn't have to be another. Now, that's not saying you shouldn't date at all, or avoid any sort of romance. That's not the point.

Instead, try to focus on the enjoyment of getting to other people. Take the emphasis off of finding a serious relationship, and just try to make friends. Think of it as another way to share the experience of college with someone else. You may want to try dating those in the same classes as you, as there will be some level of shared common interest. This will also help to keep your comfort level in check, and make it feel a lot less challenging.

There is no reason why college dating has to be hard if you know the best way to approach it. All new college students will face new challenges, but dating doesn't have to be one of them. Go into it with the right attitude, without putting pressure on you or your date for anything too serious. However, if things go well, then by all means continue to let things progress naturally. Many people have met their current spouses when they were in college. If it happens, that's great! But don't go out on dates with the thought of finding a marriage partner. Just enjoy being with somebody and let things happen as they may.

Stress Relief Vitamins For Well Being

Studies dating back to the seventies show that certain vitamins contain properties that are effective in relieving stress. Supported by scientific data, companies have now come out with various vitamin supplements that combine these so called stress vitamins, which are Vitamin A, Vitamin B complexes, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. Let us take a look at each stress relief vitamin.

Vitamin A, as a stress relief vitamin, contributes to a strong immune system and its antioxidant property is helpful in reducing stress. Vitamin A can be found in both animal and plant sources. Foods rich in vitamin A include eggs, liver, milk, spinach, carrots, mangoes and cantaloupe.

Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid is often referred to as the “anti-stress vitamin” for its excellent stress-relieving effects. Vitamin B5 along with vitamin B9 (folic acid) and vitamin C are necessary for the adrenal glands to function properly. The adrenal glands produce the hormones that help the body deal with stress such as adrenalin and cortisol.

Additionally, this stress-relief vitamin is involved in many of the body’s energy-releasing chemical reactions as well as in the removal of toxins from the body. Vitamin B5 is not produced or stored naturally in our bodies so you have to get it either from vitamin supplements or foods such as whole grain cereals, beans, poultry, lean meat, and fish.

Aside from Vitamin B5, the entire vitamin B complex is in fact known to play an essential role in combating stress. In addition to B5 and B9, other B-vitamins are B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine acid), B7 (biotin), and B12 (cobalamin). When dealing with emotionally or physically stressful situations, the body uses up B-vitamins first to give the body a quick energy boost.

Vitamin B3 is required for the metabolism of the amino acid Trytophan, which the body converts to serotonin, a brain chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter and is known to regulate mood. A high serotonin level helps a person handle stress and makes a person cheerful.

A widely recommended stress relief vitamin is vitamin C, which has powerful antioxidant properties. Vitamin C boosts the immune system, hence, increasing a person’s ability to fight stress. Vitamin C is also necessary to break down the hormone cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal glands to respond to stress.

Foods rich in vitamin C include citrus fruits, green vegetables, tomatoes, bell pepper, papaya and berries. Another stress relief vitamin that offers excellent antioxidant properties is vitamin E. Green leafy vegetables, nuts, fortified cereals and vegetable oils are high in vitamin E.

Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership

Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

·           Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative

·           Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative

·           Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pace setting, and commanding.  

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. Thus, a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and order---different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.

Debt Freedom - The How To Guide

Debt is something many people all over the world struggle with, and many want to know how to be debt free. In today's society you can't afford to spend cash on everything, and sometimes you have to use a credit card or get a loan. But if the unexpected happens and you're unable to pay back those debts it can spiral out of control.

An illness, some time off from work or even an unexpected household repair that requires you to use your credit card can all be reasons for you to find yourself with more debt than you can handle.

There are many options available to help you reach financial freedom; such as debt counseling services, debt consolidation and even bankruptcy.  But before you do anything that drastic take some time to try to fix your debt situation on your own.

It is possible, even without adding income, to pay off your debt.  It will take time and it will take discipline but if you are committed to living a life without any debt you can do it.

Below is a step by step plan that will help you to get rid of all your debt. It isn't a quick fix, but it's realistic and has worked for thousands of people, and it can work for you too:

1) Make yourself a detailed list of all your debt. Add everything, even the smallest of debts should be added to this list. This list should include your monthly household bills (such as house payments, insurance, utility bills, etc) in one column and your debt in another column.

2) Make a very detailed budget for all your monthly expenses. Be sure to have enough so you are able to make at least the minimum payments on all of your debt.

3) From the lists above pick the smallest debt as your target. Pay as much towards this debt as you can without cutting payments on your other debts. Once you manage to pay off this debt completely, take that money and apply it to the next smallest debt. Keep doing this again and again until your debt is all paid off. Doing this will allow you to pay off all your debt, even if you can't get extra money coming in.

This method works, it just takes discipline. You'll have to make sacrifices if you want to be debt free. That means making a reasonable budget and sticking to it.  But if you stay disciplined, and keep at it, you will eventually find yourself out of debt which will bring you peace of mind and will make all the sacrifices seem worthwhile.

Free Your Self Improvement Power

When we look at a certain object, a painting for example – we won’t be able to appreciate what’s in it, what is painted and what else goes with it  if the painting is just an inch away from our face. But if we try to take it a little further, we’ll have a clearer vision of the whole art work.

We reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and a whole bunch of information that will help us unlock our self improvement power. Until then, something can be staring us right under our nose but we don’t see it.  The only time we think of unlocking our self improvement power is when everything got worst. Take the frog principle for example –

Try placing Frog A in a pot of boiling water. What happens? He twerps! He jumps off! Why? Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment – the water’s temperature. Then try Frog B: place him in a luke warm water, then turn the gas stove on. Wait til the water reaches a certain boiling point. Frog B then thinks “Ooh… it’s a bit warm in here”.

People are like Frog B in general. Today, Anna thinks Carl hates her. Tomorrow, Patrick walks up to her and told her he hates her. Anna stays the same and doesn’t mind what her friends says. The next day, she learned that Kim and John also abhor her. Anna doesn’t realize at once the importance and the need for self improvement until the entire community hates her.

We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth have fallen out. When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad. When do we pray and ask for help? When we realize that we’re gonna die tomorrow.

The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.

Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life – and we are all going to eventually unlock our self improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.

Happy people don’t just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you don’t have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self improvement.  Unlocking your self improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that “its just the way I am”. It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.

Jen repeatedly tells everyone that she doesn’t have the guts to be around groups of people. She heard her mom, her dad, her sister, her teacher tell the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jen believes. She believes its her story. And what happens? Every time a great crowd would troop over their house, in school, and in the community – she tends to step back, shy away and lock herself up in a room. Jen didn’t only believed in her story, she lived it.

Jen has to realize that she is not what she is in her story. Instead of having her story post around her face for everyone to remember, she has to have the spirit and show people “I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!”

Self improvement may not be everybody’s favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life.  Reading self-help books instead of looking at TV will shape up a more profound knowledge.  Going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind.  And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self improvement power, you’ll realize that you’re beginning to take things light and become happy.