Tag Archives: music therapy

How Saying “Yes” Leads to Advocacy

In the music therapy world, there’s an unspoken feeling among colleagues of being movers and shakers and big risk-takers in the healthcare world. Conversation between music therapists eventually lead to discussions of program proposal dreams, advocacy work, and general convincing of music therapy’s effectiveness to others. It’s with our advocacy that we create opportunities forContinue reading “How Saying “Yes” Leads to Advocacy”

Mental Health Session Ideas #4

Last week, I posted some additional therapeutic revolution ideas for the mental health settings. Read below for some more of my original and adapted ideas. THERAPEUTIC REVOLUTION #17 “Mood Playlists“ Goals: Elevate mood; increase positive coping skills; increase emotional awareness; increase mood regulation Therapeutic Revolution: I borrowed this idea from a colleague, and adapted herContinue reading “Mental Health Session Ideas #4”

Mental Health Session Ideas #3

It’s been a busy year for me, despite having finished my masters degree. I took on some additional non-music therapy related projects at work, which took most of my creative juices, but I’ve still been hit with the occasional “revolution-ary” idea for session plans and therapeutic revolutions. I’ve found that session ideas have proven toContinue reading “Mental Health Session Ideas #3”

The Realities of Inpatient, Psychiatric Music Therapy

I’ve had the opportunity to work within the same acute inpatient psychiatric facility for two years. It’s not a long time in the grand scheme of a career, but it’s enough to collect some insight on how things work in our world. When I started this particular job, I had a certain assessment of whoContinue reading “The Realities of Inpatient, Psychiatric Music Therapy”

How Music Can Be Harmful

In my last post, I discussed questions I received from high school students during a Q&A. One question that stood out to me was: You said in your TED talk that music can be harmful. How is music harmful and why? This question caught my attention because it addresses a big misconception about music therapy – that it’sContinue reading “How Music Can Be Harmful”

Music Therapy Questions Posed by Students

In December, I had the privilege to speak with some high school students from Franklin, Wisconsin about music therapy. I was contacted by a teacher who had seen my TEDx talk and was showcasing music therapy to his students as a career path. He asked if I would be willing to video conference call with themContinue reading “Music Therapy Questions Posed by Students”

Being a Music Therapist with Shortcomings

Working in mental health, I don’t disclose a lot of personal information about myself to my patients. This population already deals with a mixed-up understanding of personal boundaries. It’s part of who I am as a therapist to define what I do or do not reveal about myself that keeps these boundaries therapeutic. The question IContinue reading “Being a Music Therapist with Shortcomings”

Be the Expert in Your Own Thinking

Recently, I went back and began to re-read older posts of mine, surprising myself with some of my own words of advice that I had forgotten over the last year of blogging. I found that many posts surprised me so much that I almost didn’t believe I wrote them, just because they still applied to manyContinue reading “Be the Expert in Your Own Thinking”

How to Become a Music Therapist

As a result of my TEDx talk, I’ve received emails from a lot of people asking me how they can become a music therapist or go about a career change. What an awesome response from people! Initially, I attempted to respond to each email, but realized this is probably a better platform to answer those questions. So, ifContinue reading “How to Become a Music Therapist”