September 2009

How To Recognize the 4 Types of Attention

September 29, 2009

One of the most common goals music therapists address are attention goals. For example:

Goal: To increase attention span.
Goal: To promote on-task behavior.
Goal: To improve attention to task.
…and so on.

Attention. It’s a basic yet foundational skill. The ability to focus and pay attention is a precursor to a host of other cognitive skills  (another foundational skills [...]

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Musings on Mackenzie Phillips

September 25, 2009

I’ve been working with traumatized children for over 4 years, now, and I’ve always been astounded by one simple truth: traumatized children love their parents more than anything in the world.
There’s been a lot in the news recently about Mackenzie Phillips. The only writing about it that truly interested me was this blog post from [...]

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What is Music Therapy? (The Video)

September 24, 2009

I feel like I’ve finally entered the 21st century. Millions have done it before me, but I have procrastinated, putting it off until I felt “ready.” But I finally bit the bullet and buckled down until it was done.
I just uploaded my first video to YouTube.
In this video I answer the question “what is music [...]

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These Are My 62 Favorite Things

September 22, 2009

This is unofficial, but I bet that at one point or another, most music therapists used the song “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music as a starting point to get clients to talk about their favorite things. I know I have.
So in that spirit, here is a (partial) list of my favorite things, [...]

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Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for Creating Your Website

September 17, 2009

There have already been two people this week who have contacted me about my websites. They are ready to launch their own and are doing some background research, getting ideas and “here’s how I did it” stories from others who have been there.
When it comes to websites, there are a lot of options these days. [...]

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Wading the Waters of RSS, Feeds, Subscriptions, and Newsletters

September 14, 2009

I just started on my journey with blogs and online social media last February. Before that, the only online activity I was involved in was email. Really, that was it.
And as a relative newbie, there’s been a lot to learn. What does RSS mean? What’s a feed? What does it mean if I subscribe to [...]

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Have You Heard? A Broadway Musical about Mental Illness

September 11, 2009

I just heard about it this morning! Next to Normal, a hit show on Broadway, is centered on one woman’s struggle with mental illness.
And it’s a hit! It’s been getting rave reviews and has won 3 Tony awards. Although I have not seen the show, I wanted to share it with you. I think it’s [...]

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The 5 Most Important Things to Know About Neurodevelopment

September 10, 2009

My favorite graduate courses were the neuroscience courses. It fascinated me how the brain was organized, how it functioned, and how this incredibly complex and dynamic organism could be broken down and understood in simpler parts. Amazing.
And now that I work with trauma-influenced children, I’ve learned much more about neurodevelopment. I have had first-hand experience [...]

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Autism, Dying, Newsletters, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, SmartPhones, & Streakers

September 8, 2009

(And, yes, I somehow manage to touch on ALL these topics in this post. Keep reading…)
NEWSLETTERS
I am very excited to announce the launch of the Music Therapy Maven email newsletter! This newsletter is easy to subscribe to (just fill in your name and email address below) and absolutely free. Each newsletter will include original content [...]

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