PsychToday

[PsychToday] 5 Intrinsic Perks of Music

September 17, 2014
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There is mounting evidence that music training benefits skills and areas that are non-musical in nature. Musicians tend to score higher on verbal and math tests. There are differences in the motor and sensory processing areas of a musician’s brain. Musicians also have greater aural acuity, meaning they can more accurately process pitch. Plus the […]

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5 Problems Music Can Create

August 15, 2014
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I am a strong believer in the incredible and varied effect music can have on us. I believe in its ability to shape our brains and our selves. It’s for this reason that I started both my children in piano lessons just shy of their fifth birthdays. Music is the vocational passion of my life […]

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[PsychToday] Can Moving Together Rhythmically Combat Toddler Selfishness?

July 2, 2014
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Take a moment and think of all the ways we interact rhythmically with children. We rock. We bounce. We dance. We walk. It seems the developmental benefits of this intuitive, simple play may extend farther then we thought. New Research: Motor Synchrony and Prosocial Development Researchers at McMaster University conducted a series of studies to […]

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Are Headphones Harming Us?

May 30, 2014
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I readily admit that I am guilty of aural self-isolation. Just the other night, while making dinner, I missed an entire meaningful conversation between my husband and children. I was completely oblivious, not because I was engrossed in the cooking, but because I was engrossed in a book being transmitted through two small, white earbuds […]

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[PsychToday] The New “Happy”: A Protest Anthem

April 23, 2014
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Although I initially liked the song, my feelings about Pharrell William’s Oscar-nominated hit “Happy” had been moving towards how I feel about the 1990s version of “Killing Me Softly with His Song.” So over-played that I immediately felt drawn to change the radio station once I heard the opening notes. But I recently read an […]

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[PsychToday] Music Therapy for our Soldiers

February 27, 2014
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My first non-familial encounter with veterans was as a soon-to-be sophomore in college, two days shy of moving to Iowa City as a transfer student and new music therapy major. I had just learned about music therapy and had spent the past month turning my life upside-down to transfer to the University of Iowa to […]

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[PsychToday] America the Not-So-Beautiful?

February 4, 2014
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Another year, another Super Bowl, another music-related controversy… The 2014 Coca Cola commercial that aired during last night’s Super Bowl stood out to me for its beauty and simplicity. The images, the angelic tones of the voices—it was one of the few commercials that caused me to pause, listen, and enjoy. A contemplative moment. Apparently […]

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[PsychToday] The Legacy of Pete Seeger: A Music Therapist’s Perspective

January 31, 2014
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The world lost an amazing human being this week. Pete Seeger has been called many things: a singer, a banjo player, a songwriter, an activist, a troubadour, a folk singer, “un-American,” a teacher, a champion. His legacy and mark on the world will undoubtably continue for many years…Read more.

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[PsychToday] Music: It’s More Than “Feel Good”

December 12, 2013
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Every once in awhile a story like this emerges that that sings the praises (no pun intended) of listening to music. These stories expand on the therapeutic benefits of music, mostly those related to relaxation or mood induction (i.e., making one feel happy/calm/better). Although the New Yorker piece is better than most I read—it actually […]

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