Music Therapy

My Top 8 Moments from #AMTA10

November 24, 2010
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I am now back from Cleveland.
If you followed the Twitter hashtag #AMTA10, you’ll find we were quite a busy bunch last weekend, sharing news, thoughts, and happenings live as they…well, happened. And with a record attendance of well over 1400, there was a lot happening!
It always seems to take several days to settle down and [...]

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4 Ways to Help a Client Work Through Loss

September 8, 2010
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Rachel Rambach at Listen and Learn music wrote a post last week about the challenges of helping a child with autism process and understand death.
What a challenge…
Grief and loss is a difficult topic whether working with a child with autism, a family coping with cancer, or with yourself.

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Is It Just Me, Or Does This Really Work?

August 12, 2010
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You may recall that, in addition to this blog here, I also blog at Psychology Today–though not nearly as often! This morning I published a story about an experience I had a couple years ago where I was able to use music to calm two boys in an active “fight, flight, or freeze” [...]

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[Video] The “Right-Left” Song: An Intervention for Children

June 10, 2010

One of my readers, Jeremy, left a comment awhile back asking me to share a song/intervention he’d heard me describe before: the “Right-Left” song. Well, Jeremy…here it is!
I can’t take credit for writing the “Right-Left” song–a wonderful music therapist named Michelle Hardy wrote it. I heard her describe it in a workshop several years ago, [...]

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A Pre-Conference Update

April 8, 2010

The Midwestern Region of the American Music Therapy Association is hosting it’s conference this weekend–here in Fort Collins! I talked last week about why I like going to conference. This week,  a list of what I’m looking forward to the most this weekend:

Taking my first CMTE (an intensive, 5-hour continuing education training). The topic is [...]

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How to Be a Top-Notch Interviewee

March 4, 2010

One of my readers, Amy, contacted me last week and asked:
I wanted to send you a quick update on my internship application process! I have scheduled two interviews for mid-March, one in Denver and one in Boston. I thought you might be a great resource to ask for some general interview advice. Do you have [...]

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How To Make Music Therapy Sticky

February 2, 2010

I’m going to try something new. When people ask me “What is music therapy?”, I’ll say:
We use music to make your life better.
I’ve been reading a book called Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (by Chip and Dan Heath). “Sticky ideas” are ones that last and that people remember. Fables and [...]

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Which is More Critical: Science-Based Treatment? Or Skilled Therapists?

January 26, 2010

Over the weekend, I listened to a very interesting debate on NPR Science Friday. The three guests were psychotherapists discussing whether there should be a scientific basis to clinical psychology.
I’ve summarized the three viewpoints below. I wanted to share this debate with you, because I think we have similar discussions in the music therapy field.
What [...]

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What Every Therapist Ought to Remember About the Holidays

December 1, 2009

This weekend we “put up Christmas” in the house. I love this time of year, with all the green, red, and gold, the lights, and the memories that come pouring back as I hang each little ornament. I felt happy, relaxed, and excited for the holidays!

Then yesterday, the first Monday after a wonderful Thanksgiving break, [...]

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