music, therapy, and me

Getting Ready... I am in the process of getting ready to guest lecture at one of the local universities. My topic today is Music Therapy with Adolescents, and I'm going to be speaking to a senior music therapy class. I have found that Adolescents are an underresearched and underestimated population with very unique issues in music therapy. That is not my blog topic for today. My favorite part about being a music therapist is watching others discover the joy of music. This happens to me lots in the clinic, which is why I am guest lecturing rather than teaching. It also occurs when I'm talking to other therapists - novice and professional - about my "kids." I have been told that I am very obvious in my attitudes and enthusiasm for the things that I am passionate about - can't hide anything on my face! It will be fun to share some of that enthusiasm today with preprofessionals. I am basically just killing time before I have to leave. More later when I finish the lect

Coming Home From Conference.. . It is regional conference time, and I have just returned from the joint MWR/GLR conference held in Lombard, IL. I am not generally able to attend regional conferences due to the limited amount of time that I have for professional development, but I did get to attend this one. I found myself in the middle of a primarily clinical world, something that is often missing at the National conference. I need to explain what I mean. At National conference, the majority of folks who present appear to be researchers and professors. This is an important aspect of our professional development, true, but clinicians often attend to get some practical tips and techniques for use with clientele. Things to take home, ways to feel refreshed, opportunities for asking other clinicians about client populations. National conferences are often not as focused on "how-to" as I want them to be. There also appears to be a lack of professional level "How-To" cour