Happy New Year! I absolutely love this time of year when everything feels fresh and new. I love starting the year off on “the right foot” and the positive outlook for the rest of the year. It got me thinking about how a lot of our younger clients don’t get to experience staying up until midnight and doing the big countdown celebration. I thought this month would be a great time to relive that celebration in our sessions. Being able to talk with a client about how we countdown to the New Year and doing it together could help them feel included in with the celebrations. Creating your own countdown celebration is a great way to allow your client to make choices and feel autonomy in a celebration that’s typically for adults or “big kids”. Having some sort of number visual from 10 to 1 and then perhaps blowing bubbles, playing kazoos/noise makers, or (if you’re able to) popping a few of those tiny poppers together would be a lot of fun. I created a quick musical intro for the activity, which I’ve included below. I hope this can be a fun activity for your sessions this month!

 

“Happy New Year” (To The Tune of “Frere Jacques”)

Happy New Year (Happy New Year)
Let’s celebrate (Let’s celebrate)

Countdown from 10 (Countdown from 10)
Then we cheer! (Then we cheer!)

[Therapist and Client countdown from 10 to 1]

 

Sara Chigani, MA, MT-BC, FAMI