Autumn News from the Eastern Mediterranean

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"][caption id="attachment_4861" align="aligncenter" width="372"]

Aksana Kavaliova-Moussi Regional Liaison for Eastern Mediterranean Contact: easternmediterranean@wfmt.info

Aksana Kavaliova-Moussi
Regional Liaison for Eastern Mediterranean
Contact: easternmediterranean@wfmt.info[/caption]

It has been a quiet time in the region, with summer sessions ceasing as schools closed for summer holidays. The new academic year brought some new developments.

M.Tennant (Dubai) took part in the Autism awareness documentary, which was filmed for the duration of fourteen weeks in Abu Dhabi this past Spring. The documentary actually focused on music therapy with two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We are all looking forward to the film being finished and released soon.

There is a new music therapist in Dubai, Nadya Larsen, a graduate from the Guildhall school (London). She reports on a possible inclusion of music therapy into a “social therapy” category, thus leading to licensing through the recently established Community Development Authority in Dubai. If this happens, it will mean an official recognition of music therapy in Dubai, and, hopefully, will open new windows to the development of our profession in the entire region!

Recently, we received news that a Bachelor of Music Therapy program at the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan restarted its training with a new instructor, B. Zayed, from Palestine. Mr. Zayed is a prominent musician, graduated from the Guildhall school (London). There are currently eight students in the program, according to the program coordinator.

In Bahrain, one of the leading psychometrists created a specialists’ group for those working with children and adolescents with special needs. A presentation on music therapy took place in April, and I am an active member of this group. A music therapy workshop for families with children with special needs was held in June. In October, the first Bahraini article on music therapy was published in the Gulf Weekly, a popular English-language newspaper.

Aksana Kavaliova-Moussi

Eastern Mediterranean Regional Liaison

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]