Music Therapy

What’s in a name? Reflections on describing the work we do

September 3, 2020

Note: This is a blog post with no answers. Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) is credited with saying “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” In my work, this “definition of terms” idea can be expressed in various ways, such as through operational definitions.  (An operational definition is a description of a variable, procedure, process, […]

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Music and Musicking

August 7, 2018
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I have a confession: I am not a fan of the word “musicking.” Not only is it a silly-sounding word to me, but you can’t even find it in Merriam-Webster. (Okay, technically it’s described as the “present participle of music,” meaning it’s the ongoing action of the thing called “music.” But unlike other present participles […]

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2018 Summer Reading Book Reviews: Music Therapy Texts

June 29, 2018
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I’m continuing an idea started last summer to churn through multiple work-related books in the “off” summer break. (“Off” in written air quotes as many academics understand the work, particularly the scholarly and creative work, never stops…it just changes tempo.) I begin my 2018 summer reading list with two music therapy-related texts, both of which […]

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#MTAdvocacy and Finding My Advocacy Song

January 11, 2018
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It’s January! Know what that means…? Time for the annual Music Therapy Social Media Advocacy month! I have had the distinct pleasure of helping to coordinate this project since its inception in 2012. Whereas in year’s past we invited music therapy bloggers and podcasters to talk about advocacy, this year we’re structuring the project differently […]

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World Congress-bound: A Preview

July 2, 2017
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I blog this morning from a hotel room outside the LAX airport. In 6 hours I’ll be on a flight again and, should all go smoothly, in 17 hours will be touching down at Narita airport in Tokyo. From there I make the hourlong bus ride north to Tsukuba, Japan to attend the 15th World Congress […]

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In Defense of Extrinsic Benefits…?

August 11, 2016
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Another summer means another opportunity to catch up on a little book reading. This summer’s reading list was inspired by my upcoming teaching and writing commitments. Two books in particular sparked musings on a topic I haven’t yet blogged about (at least not directly), but about which I’ve had numerous conversations with music therapists and […]

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Music Therapists: Take this WFMT Survey!

April 21, 2016

The World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT) is conducting a survey to obtain “detailed, descriptive, worldwide statistical narrative about the demographics, employment, and clinical facts, which help to describe the music therapy profession.” If you are a music therapist, I encourage you to click this link to take the survey. Though I risk showing a […]

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Ability Doesn’t Occur in a Vacuum

April 14, 2016
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I had the distinct pleasure earlier this week to watch a graduate student present to a group of parents on her advanced practicum experience. This student has been working this spring with their children, focusing specifically on facilitating their emotion development. Being that this was a graduate course, this focus went a little deeper than […]

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[PsychToday] Learning about Allison’s Brain

March 24, 2016
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I heard a pretty remarkable story last week about a woman named Allison. Allison is a retired music teacher—a highly decorated retired music teacher, too. In 2011, Allison was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, an enlargement of one of the arteries in her brain. An enlargement so big it was the size of a plum. […]

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