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Cognitive Eurhythmics - Music and Movement Therapy |
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Cognitive Eurhythmics℠ is a curriculum of music and movement games specifically designed to address behavioral and developmental difficulties. More and more research shows that behavioral and cognitive problems are often connected with issues of rhythm, balance, coordination, attention and spatial processing. Cognitive Eurhythmics uses games of music and movement to guide children through difficulties in these areas. Rather than passively imposing activities on the children, the class centers around the children improvising, creating music, and solving puzzles and games together. Improvements in rhythmic, motor, and sensory behavior can open up new possibilities for their learning and development. Eric Barnhill is the creator of Cognitive Eurhythmics, and currently pratices at the Optimal Health and Development Center in Westchester and in private practice in Manhattan. He has used the curriculum with Alzheimer’s, Attention Deficit, Tourette’s, Autism Spectrum and other neuromotor and neurodegenerative disorders. He received a Feldenkrais Practitioner Certification from the Feldenkrais Movement Institute, a Dalcroze Certification from the Dalcroze School of New York, and a Masters in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School. For a good introduction to my work, you can watch my recent talk at the Psychoanalytic Society of New York on YouTube. Some Case Studies: Stewart, Part 1: Eliminating the Need for Orthotics with Music and Movement Games Vanessa, Part 1: Eliminating Difficulties With "Personal Boundaries" Through Enhancing Spatial and Rhythmic-Spatial Processing Using Cognitive Eurhythmics to Enhance Functionality in Alzheimer's Patients Ian, Part 1: Enhancing Attention Through Music and Movement Ian, Part 2: Learning Piano with a Severe Memory Disability Helga, Part 1: Using Eurhythmics-Based Movement Games to Eliminate Spasticity in a Stroke Recovery Patient Helga, Part 2: Using Bilateral Rhythm Games to Coordinate and Improve a Stroke-Afflicted Side of the Body Marcia: Using Rhythm and Music to Create Initiative in a Stroke Recovery Patient |
The music and movement games of Cognitive Eurhythmics are based on the Dalcroze Eurhythmics method of music education, but specifically designed to address behavioral and developmental difficulties: Cognitive Eurhythmics evaluates developmental issues from the standpoint of the Feldenkrais Method, which asserts that the motor centers are at the foundation of all brain activity, and that movement is the most powerful door to self-improvement. As one Feldenkrais teacher put it, “A learning problem is a balance problem.” Through games involving improvised motor response to music, children reveal the biases in their motor, kinesthetic, spatial and auditory processing. The teacher creates ensuing games that guide the children into the weak spots in these areas, and challenge them to improve. The unique games provide two benefits not common to most therapies. First, working on the physical aspects of a developmental difficulty gives the child a sense of his difficulty not as some abstract or coldly medical thing, but as a challenge he can see, feel, sense, and understand. Unconscious self-correction can often begin simply as a result of this improved self-awareness. Second, the child’s difficulties are explored directly, but through activities involving improvisation, creativity, and learning, rather than passively imposed, clinical activities. This pleasurable atmosphere engages the child on many more levels, builds confidence and feeds a sense of achievement. The rhythms and dances of music also provide impetus for group and social interactions, and Cognitive Eurhythmics allows children to interact socially, guided by the rhythms and energies of the music, in ways they might not otherwise. Rhythm and movement games can be a bridge to greater sociality that, once crossed, persists outside the classroom. | |||
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