Still Finding Out How People Are Impacted: An Interview With Olivia Swedberg Yinger
As a music therapist and parent of two children, Dr. Olivia Swedberg Yinger voices their concern for young children under five and their parents struggling with mental health issues being forgotten in the aftermath of the pandemic. They raise the question how humans’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been impacted by the pandemic – answers we still need to find. In this podcast, they speak about the Neurosequential Model and its sequence of engagement (i.e., regulate, relate, reason), give musical and mindfulness suggestions for young children, and stress the importance of maintaining established routines. Honoring and validating children’s feelings and conveying the message that they are not alone, as well as parents’ self-care, are key for a family’s mental health. They hope that adults can see children as experts of their needs arising from their pandemic experiences.
Resources
- Info NMN. (2020, April 2). 4. Regulate, relate reason (sequence of engagement): Neurosequential Network stress & trauma series [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNuxy7FxEV
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2022). Resources. https://www.nctsn.org/resources
- Perry, B. D., & Ablon, J. S. (2019). CPS as a neurodevelopmentally sensitive and trauma-informed approach. In A. R. Pollastri, J. S. Ablon, & M. J. G. Hone (Eds.), Collaborative problem solving: An evidence-based approach to implementation and practice (pp. 15-31). Springer.
- Robb, S. L. (2000). The effect of therapeutic music interventions on the behavior of hospitalized children in isolation: Developing a Contextual Support Model of Music Therapy. Journal of Music Therapy, 37(2), 118–146. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/37.2.118
- Robb, S. L. (2003). Designing music therapy interventions for hospitalized children and adolescents using a Contextual Support Model of Music Therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 21(1), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/21.1.27
- Sesame Workshop (2022). Welcome to Sesame Workshop. https://www.sesameworkshop.org/
About the Interviewee
Olivia Swedberg Yinger, PhD, MT-BC, is Associate Professor and Chair of Music Therapy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. One of their research interests and previous contributions to imagine is trauma-informed music therapy. Their knowledge, experiences, and insights are invaluable to early childhood music therapists, especially during the pandemic era.
Contact: olivia.yinger@uky.edu
Suggested Citation
Kern, P. (2022, September 1). Still finding out how people are impacted: An interview
with Olivia Swedberg Yinger [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz