In Harmony Pediatric Therapy - Enjoy Cherokee Magazine

Music Soothes The Soul

by Cindy Pope

“Music soothes the soul” is more than a platitude. Science bears out that music increases the levels of two mood-boosting hormones in the brain. Jennifer Puckett and Kristi Estes knew the value of music when they opened In Harmony Pediatric Therapy in 2008. Within nine months the Hickory Flat start-up grew so large it had to relegate clients to a waiting list.

Julianne Rivear (left) & Randy Gravley (right) present the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce 2019 Small Business of the Year Award to Jennifer.

Ten years later, the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce selected In Harmony as the 2019 Small Business of the Year, and the company moved into a larger, newer building in Woodstock with a variety of rooms for activities, music, and therapy. The local business serves more than two hundred clients a week.

In Harmony Pediatric Therapy is an umbrella clinic housing both Rising Stars Children’s Therapy and Therabeat. Together these organizations serve local children and young adults with special needs. It conducts advanced occupational, physical, speech, and language therapies for clients from birth to twenty-one years of age, but it’s the music therapy for people of all ages that sets In Harmony apart from other therapeutic businesses.

Folks who are not caregivers for children with special needs may not fully understand the resultant stress and strain during an average day. Caregiving families need access to education, services, support, and therapies that differ from the norm. In Harmony is noticeably a haven for those families from the moment you walk in the door.

Jennifer Puckett, owner of Therabeat and coowner of In Harmony, grins and points toward a large fish tank. “When Kristi Estes and I were building this clinic, I wanted that huge aquarium in the front of the office because kids drop their electronic devises, sit, and watch the fish. We all do. It’s calming.”

In addition to the calming fish tank, the building is filled with the faint sound of vocal and percussion music, parents chatting like friends in the waiting room, and happy children with their arms outstretched to greet their therapists.

Each one-hour session is tailored specifically to the needs of the individual child. Some play piano, some sing, some learn to play the guitar, and the list of possibilities is vast. “Music changes your mood,” says Jennifer. The minute children pick up an instrument they feel a wave of excitement. Eventually the children may play that instrument in front of other children and staff members, which demonstrates their growing self-confidence.

The reaction children receive from the audience positively feeds their self-esteem and encourages them to continue to grow stronger. When children perform in front of their parents, the world opens up. Proud parents clapping, smiling, and teary-eyed can change the life of a child forever. The children then have the desire to accomplish more. “Each year some of our kiddos perform at Riverfest, in

various school talent shows, and at Crazy Love Coffee House in Roswell,”Jennifer says with a proud grin. Therabeat also hosts two recitals annually in which about seventy clients perform.

Music becomes a springboard to developing life skills. “Our goal is to transfer what we’re working on here into their daily routine,” explains Jennifer. “If we’re working on piano skills and trying to isolate individual fingers, our goal is to make this skill transfer from a piano to a computer, so the person might someday facilitate a job with that skill.”

Not all clients are assessed with the goal of finding a job, however. Jennifer relays an emotional story about a boy who could not tolerate touch—not even the touch of his mother. We will call him Sam for the sake of privacy. After evaluation, Jennifer and her creative staff decided to begin Sam’s therapy with soft, calming music. Therapists swayed soft, silky, see-through scarves to the rhythm of the music and eventually allowed the scarves to touch Sam. Because the scarves were nonthreatening, Sam began to welcome the soft caresses. After some time Sam allowed a scarf to rest gently over his face. At that, Sam’s mother was invited to give her son a kiss. The only thing standing between mother and son were musical notes and a silk scarf. Magic! It was the first mother-son kiss of their lives.

Sam’s mother was there during the therapy session to see his progress, but parents are not generally required to be present. Often it’s important for the youngsters to be independent from their guardians to give them independence and space to explore. In Harmony understands the importance of keeping families abreast of progress, though, and often it sends parents brief video clips of a session so they can witness the progress being made or so therapists can clarify areas that need more attention.

In addition to educating the children, In Harmony understands the benefit of families helping families. In Harmony invites parents of new clients to pair up with parents with experience adjusting to life with a disabled child. The organization also helps open the door to a variety of other existing resources. For example, many families are unaware that Medicaid often covers charges for speech, occupational, and physical therapy.

As a client is experiencing life-changing interaction with some of the best and most creative professional therapists in the world, parents find comfort in leaning on one another. The calming fish tank is just the start to a productive day to all who enter In Harmony.

In Harmony maintains a team of caring, bright, and intelligent women who make a positive impact on the families in our community.

In Harmony has trained more than twentyfive music therapists in its universityaffiliated internship program. Candidates complete a minimum of 1,200 hours of hands-on clinical therapy before being eligible to take the Music Therapy Board Certification Exam and apply for a music therapy license in Georgia.

Both Kristi and Jennifer live in Cherokee County and are recipients of Georgia Trend’s Top 40 Under 40 Award and The Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce/Enjoy Cherokee Magazine’s Top 10 in 10 Young Professionals Award.

Kristi Estes, co-owner of In Harmony Pediatric Therapy, graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in occupational therapy. She has specialized training in feeding, therapeutic listening, and rhythmic movement, among other things.

Jennifer Puckett, co-owner of In Harmony Pediatric Therapy, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in music therapy and is a nationally board-certified music therapist. She has specialized training in infant massage and neurological music therapy and is an early intervention therapist as well.

In Harmony Pediatric Therapy 9880 Hickory Flat Highway Woodstock, GA 30188 770-687-2542. https://www.inharmonypediatrictherapy.com/