music, therapy, and me

I am feeling crabby and cranky this morning - there are storms coming in quickly, and I have not been sleeping well lately. Both of those things are contributing to my mood and my attitude as I am getting ready for my morning commute. It is Thursday which means that I have four groups today and then two groups tomorrow. My individual session will be cancelled due to a field trip tomorrow, so I will have a little bit more time to clean and organize things. I have been trying to bring things home slowly, but it is time to ramp up the purge. Nine weeks left after tomorrow to get my stuff back here. Emotions are running high at work right now. The aforementioned field trip has become a matter of contention for so many, including the principal who sent out an email about making sure that state testing was finished or no trip! So, there must be some folks who have not finished their state testing yet. As an educational enrichment specialist, I do not have to worry about state testing (whew -...

So, I will be leaving my current job in nine and a half weeks. I am retiring and am struggling a bit with the lack of direction in my near future. At the same time, though, I am a bit energized by this opportunity to go do something else. As part of this, I am going to list some of the things that I will not miss about my current job... I will not miss the following: Prohibition of balloons - it will be nice to have a bit of flexibility when it comes to using balloons in music therapy sessions. I have so many balloon therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) that I have not been able to use because we don't have balloons around due to choking risks. Lack of communication - At least when I am working for myself, I will know all the things happening. "Happy children making happy sounds." - Ugh. I had an ineffective principal who liked to use platitudes rather than engage in complete sentences. She once told me that she didn't care what I did in music therapy as long as the f...

If you have never seen the movie, What About Bob?,  starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, I recommend that you find it and watch it. It is a silly take on the therapeutic relationship (which goes pretty wrong during the movie). While I am thankful that none of my clients have had that sort of focus on me, there are parts of the movie that have enriched my understanding of being in the role of therapist. One of the things that has stuck is the terminology of the therapist who recommends that the client focus on the smallest of steps to get through what appears to be unsurmountable issues. The term is "babystepping," as in "Don't focus on what you have to do to go to a meeting. Focus on the smallest step. Stand up. Walk to the closet. Select clothing." Each one of those steps is a babystep, and this is a concept that helps me navigate my world as well as helping me interact with my clients in music therapy sessions. My clients and I share a need for technique...

I am in a "hurry up and wait" stage. I have to wait to find out when my sliding glass door will be fixed. I am waiting for people to send presentation proposals for consideration for the music therapy conference focusing on clinical innovations for working with adolescents ( here is the link for more information ). I am waiting for the pollen to stop taking over my life. I am waiting for major life changes. There is lots of waiting happening right now, and I am just trying my best to be patient. It is not easy to be patient these days. I am exhausted and uninterested in much of anything. I will be traveling to my stuffy, humid, and hot room to do something with clients who will not be comfortable and will act out because of their comfort level. I cannot seem to please anyone these days. I also have very little motivation to create things for my clients. I have no idea what we are going to do this week. Now, I know that this is because it is April, and we are all tired, but I ...

It is time to start my next project - the Rhythm to Results: Clinical Innovations in Music Therapy with Adolescents virtual conference!! This is another labor of love and something that I have wanted to do for a long, LONG time. It is now time, and I am starting the process. To begin with, we have a call for presentations open right now. We are seeking clinical music therapists to share techniques, interventions, therapeutic music experiences, and session ideas in our online format. If you work with adolescents, please consider submitting a presentation proposal by June 5, 2026 at 11:59 CDT! We intend to offer 9 CMTEs for this conference (pending CBMT approval, of course), and we also intend to make this available for $90.00 USD. Those who do not want to earn CMTEs will be able to purchase conference access for $20.00 USD. Presenters will get free registration and 8 free CMTEs in addition to CMTEs for their presentation. Are you interested in presenting? Check out this page on the web...

A Disney movie that I love is Meet the Robinsons . If you are not familiar with it, it is about science and experimentation and finding a family. It is a movie that is creative and not just a remake of something that Disney has already done (I am VERY anti-live action remakes of cartoon classics!). Throughout the movie, the theme of Keep Moving Forward comes up again and again, and is finally echoed in a quotation from Walt Disney (no date to attribution) -  “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Curiosity is something that comes and goes for me. At the moment, I am curious about the world of music therapy beyond my role, but I am not feeling able to engage outside the four walls where I do music therapy. I have dreams for what I want to do, but limited knowledge of how to get there. I am still curious about it all. What do...