May 2009

Don’t Be Territorial. Give Others A Chance.

May 28, 2009

We can be territorial.
It’s true. Mention another musician, volunteer or otherwise, coming in to play for clients in the name of helping them out and we can bristle.
Are we worried about job security? That administrators won’t understand the difference between playing music for a person and providing music therapy services? Possibly (but not if we [...]

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3 Reasons Why Music Education is Here to Stay

May 26, 2009

I was in Detroit this past weekend attending a cousin’s wedding. I met a woman and we soon began talking about children and about our work. When the conversation turns to work, I frequently get asked  “What is music therapy?” and this conversation was no exception. My new friend said her high school daughter is [...]

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Crossing the Midline: What’s the Big Deal?

May 21, 2009

Crossing the midline.
That’s a goal (or objective) frequently used in music therapy sessions. I have used it for children with autism, children with developmental disabilities, and for trauma-influenced children. It also seems to be a common therapeutic goal for occupational therapists.
A Sample Intervention
There’s an intervention I use in my weekly sessions with trauma-influenced kids. I [...]

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A Teen’s View of Hope and Change: A Song

May 19, 2009

I have been working with an adolescent boy for the past three months. “Joey” is a laid-back and friendly teenager who takes awhile to open up. He has a history of making poor decisions; he used to be in a gang, was involved in minor theft, and used to huff paint. Joey was recently paroled [...]

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Musings on a Dancing Bird

May 14, 2009

It went viral. Millions of people have watched it. I posted links to three separate articles about it. It’s Snowball the dancing bird.
I listened to the following podcast this morning. Irena Schultz from NPR’s On Science did a more in-depth story on the science (and research) of dancing animals. To summarize:

It seems that Snowball adapts [...]

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My First: A Guest Post on Music and Wellness

May 13, 2009

I have been blogging now for a few short months. I am very excited to share with you my first guest post. The topic is a brief overview of music and wellness. Thank you to Adrian Sakashita (www.fastonkeys.com) for providing this opportunity.
Click here to read the post.

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The Daily Blog 05/12/2009

May 12, 2009

Three interesting articles emerged this week:
1) The Power of Music: It’s a real heart opener. To my knowledge, this is the first time we have concrete evidence that music has a positive effect on cardiovascular health. It’s all been self-report until now.
2) Thought Illusions: Listening Cheerful and Upbeat Music Makes You Feel the Same about [...]

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How To Start Your Private Practice: The Bare Necessities

May 7, 2009

A large percentage of board-certified music therapists are self-employed, yet few universities offer training in starting and managing a business. This leaves the music therapist to “learn on the fly,” reading books, searching for information online, and learning through trial and error.
Part of the mission of the Music Therapy Maven blog is to provide information [...]

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Pythagorhythmic Theorem: Planets (squared)+Education (squared)=Music (squared)

May 5, 2009

I was going through some old graduate school materials this weekend and came across notes from a Psychology of Music class. Dr. Michael Thaut (Colorado State University) began the class by highlighting how “great minds” in society viewed music and the purpose of music.
Using music solely for entertainment is a relatively new idea. Historically, mathematicians [...]

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