Acoustic Youth is based on a program, Sonic Teens, that Dr. Genzel-Derman developed in 2015, at the Child and Family Guidance Center, to facilitate healing in teens. Dr. Genzel Derman piloted this phenomenally successful program with 15-time Grammy winning singer/songwriter and 2-time Emmy winning director, Dave Grohl (of the Foo Fighters and formerly Nirvana) who served as a mentor to the teens.
We were featured on the Today Show!!! See link below.
“being in this group was like being in a new home, gave me a turn around... back when I was feeling suicidal…gave a reason to keep going. I met people who understood and I knew I wasn’t alone.” male group member
“The group showed that that I can express myself and not be ashamed of my feelings and I got to do it through doing something I love, which is music.” female group member
“watching the kids go from being nervous to unsure of themselves, getting up in front of a microphone and crossing over from I can never do this..to I just did that” "music has an incredibly healing quality...people need to recognize its importance it has... especially with kids, ...things like this, make me feel good to be a musician," Dave Grohl, lead singer, Foo Fighters
“some of the kids were talking about lyrical things that were pretty deep, kids were expressing themselves sharing their experiences in a real way and we could tell, we were breaking through,” John Lousteau, Chief Song Engineer at Studio 606
"It is not often that I feel compelled to share about a great treatment program! It is an innovative therapeutic songwriting group which uses creative and interventions to engage teens. It is a perfect program (alone or as an adjunct to individual therapy) for teens who are struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, or parent conflicts." Paula Bruce, PhD