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Yeggi Kaela Watts. Photo courtesy of Watts.<\/em><\/p>\n Four years ago, Yeggi Kaela Watts dusted off her guitar for the first time in years. At 28, she saw her five-year marriage reduced to a divorce\u2014her daughter Lily was just a year old. She had always considered herself a poet who sometimes dabbled with music, but at this new breaking point, she felt compelled to express herself in song.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring this crazy life change I wrote a lot of new songs, learned some new chords and started to see the therapeutic effect of playing out and expressing myself,\u201d Watts, now 32, said. \u201cWhen I didn\u2019t have custody of her I just went to any open mic I could and practiced the five chords I knew and wrote a lot of songs in A minor.”<\/p>\n Watts, a 15-year professional working in therapy with children with special needs, watched the impact of the divorce on Lily, whose nights were sleepless and fueled with anxiety. So she sang her songs.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd she\u2019d go right back to bed,\u201d she recalled. \u201cSame thing with art\u2014she had this desire to color all the time.”<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that music is a tool with legitimate therapeutic effects for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Music therapy interventions have been proven to enhance social, communicative, sensory and cognitive functioning from veterans with PTSD to children with autism. Yet, such holistic resources remain scarce.<\/p>\n Watts is spearheading efforts to open the first comprehensive development center in the region that will serve children with autism, ADHD and other learning or behavioral difficulties. Instead of hammering in the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis as standard in public and private school systems, she wants to use music, art, yoga, dance and sensory integration to address the child from a holistic perspective.<\/p>\n Armed with a master\u2019s degree in Education and a B.S. in Child Development, the songstress currently works full-time as a behavioral therapist at a school district. Every day, she witnesses the shortcomings of what she describes as a \u201crobotic and reactive\u201d approach to dealing with special needs children.<\/p>\n \u201cI basically reached the top of the pay scale and saw a lot of ethical issues,\u201d she said, explaining that because the children were viewed logistically, lasting progress was limited.\u00a0<\/p>\n Watts reached a breaking point a few months ago when an 8-year-old client unleashed a violent tantrum, leaving her with a series of bruises all over her body.\u00a0The incident lit a fire under her to help these children more effectively.<\/p>\n Since returning to Long Beach from Temecula last fall, she has hit the ground running with her creative pursuits. She\u2019s gone from frequenting open mics to performing at her own acoustic gigs at wine bars around town. She credits the supportive local music community she discovered along the way to her blossoming as an artist.<\/p>\n She hopes to involve these local musicians in the new venture by training them to teach music lessons to children on the spectrum. With enough startup funds, she is looking to sublet a cozy commercial nook on Broadway that she envisions can double as an art gallery for her dearest friends.<\/p>\n \u201cIn other people\u2019s minds I have a great job with a great salary and full benefits and I\u2019d be a fool to leave that,\u201d she said. \u201cSo a part of me is like, OK I\u2019m gonna prove that wrong. But it does scare me a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n