MINDY PETERSON, NCTM

Album art: For Children of All Ages, by You and Us

Nicole Porter directed child therapy in the days following the Sandy Hook School tragedy. The processes and tools developed with the Newtown families inspired her to establish a mental health organization and art therapy trauma response team. We discuss how art and music are used therapeutically for childhood crises, and why children of ALL ages will benefit from Nicole’s brand new album that is her Valentine’s Day love letter to the planet!

Guest

My guest today is joining me from New York. Nicole Porter is a clinical art therapist and musician specializing in early childhood, trauma treatment, family advocacy, and community education. Nicole directed child therapy in the days following the Sandy Hook School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. The processes and tools developed with the Newtown families inspired her to establish a mental health organization and art therapy trauma response team, called the Emerald Sketch. Nicole has led trauma response projects at sites ranging from the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina to the March for Our Lives in DC, and beyond.

Notes

We discuss:

• How Nicole came to be involved in front-line therapy with families in Newtown.
• Emerald Sketch, the mental health organization and art therapy trauma response team that arose from Nicole’s Newton experience.
• Nicole’s virtual band, You and Us, which creates healing arts music for families.
• The band’s first album, For Children of All Ages, which debuted yesterday as Nicole’s Valentine’s Day love letter to the planet!
• How Nicole applies art therapy techniques to music, and the techniques that have been integrated in this album’s music.
• The art therapy sequence followed in the album:
  • Safety
  • Therapeutic relationship
  • Secure remembrance
  • Transformation
  • Social connection
  • Relapse prevention

 Connect/Other Resources

• Nicole’s website
• Follow You and Us on Spotify – play the songs and integrate them into your own family, educational, or clinical rituals. 
• Emerald Sketch website
• Follow @emeraldsketchart on Instagram
• Subscribe to Nicole’s newsletter to be notified of live Virtual events this Spring and Virtual Emerald Sketch Groups available weekly. 
• People can contribute to the Emerald Sketch GoFundMeaccount. Current efforts include distributing KN95s to young children attending public schools during the ongoing pandemic, as well as Emerald Sketch Art therapy Kits for qualifying children isolated at home.

In-Episode Promo

Arts for the Health of It podcast

Coda

Nicole tells us about one of the songs on the album, The Relation Ship, and shares a clip.

Closing Words

Thank you so much to Nicole for all she does to enhance lives with music and all the creative arts. And congratulations, Nicole, on the release of this album! Listeners, you can find the album and lots of other ways to connect with Nicole and her work and Emerald Sketch. All the links – and a transcript of this episode – can be found in the show notes. All links are also in the episode details right in your podcast app. As always, you can reach me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  If you have a smart speaker, remember: you can listen to the show by saying, “Alexa [or Hey Google], play Enhance Life with Music podcast.” Thank you so much for joining me today, and for sharing the show with your friends and family. Until next week, may your life be enhanced with music.

View Episode Transcript

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