Wellness Group FAQs
After learning a little more about my story and what I stride to provide with my music wellness groups, you are likely wondering what exactly they look like and what they entail. As mentioned, the overarching goal of all of my groups is to provide a space to grow and experience connection. However, the initiative of each group will be different and each one will focus on a different subcategory of connection. For example, the initiative of one group may center around experiencing live music with a focus on mind, body, emotional, and interpersonal connection, while another group may center around creating art to music with a focus on spiritual connection. Each week I will give a general outline of what to expect the process of group to look like and what aspects of connection we will be focusing on. From there it will be up to you to decide if you would like to participate! Check below for some FAQs regarding the music wellness group experience.
What are music wellness groups?
McKenzie Nicewander, board certified Music Therapist, uses her years of experience in the mental health field to thoughtfully curate music wellness sessions with a focus on mind, body, emotional, spiritual, and interpersonal connection.
McKenzie uses a variety of music based initiatives to foster connection. This may include, but is not limited to, live music listening, group music sharing, songwriting, and creating art to music. Music wellness groups are perfect if you are looking to deepen your connection to music, yourself, and those in your community. You can also attend with friends, family, or a partner to strengthen your connection to the important people in your life
What do they look like and how can I benefit?
Do I need to be a musician or "good" at music?
Absolutely not! All that is required is a love and/or appreciation of music and a willingness to be open to sharing your experiences and the experiences of others without judgement. A willingness to push yourself outside of your comfort zone will also serve you well - these are the moments where the greatest growth and connection can occur!
You are more than welcome to attend a session more than once, and in fact, I encourage you to do so! One of the amazing things about the group experience is that even if you are doing the same initiative, it will always be a different experience. Heck, even if you are doing the exact same initiative with the exact same people, it will still be a different experience! The needs and energies of a group of people can be totally different from week to week and it’s cool to see and feel those changes.
What if I’ve attended this session before? Is it okay for me to attend it again?
How much do I have to share or participate?
I believe in a challenge by choice approach. Meaning, I will always encourage you to safely push yourself outside of your comfort zone, but I will never “make” you say or do something that you are uncomfortable with. That is not therapeutic and can actually be damaging over time. I will only ask you to engage to whatever degree you feel ready for. At the beginning of each session, I will also lay out some group expectations. One of these expectations will be that that what happens in group stays in group so that people feel safe opening up and sharing.