music, therapy, and me

The Post-Conference Haze I can confidently say that I am now recovered from my time in Cleveland last week. I spent most of my time in Cleveland in meetings, networking, and answering questions. I experienced several things that I have never experienced before, specifically the Assembly of Delegates meeting. Wow. I can only say that I never want to be on the Assembly. The amount of concentration needed to be an informed representative is immense. I do not think I can do it. I went to one concurrent session during the week. The presenter was talking about vocal improvisation and had some interesting vocal/verbal techniques. Some of my clients are nonverbal, so the techniques presented are not relevant as presented, but I am able to adapt. I wish I had been able to attend more things during the conference, but I recognize that my new positions within the association have pretty much killed that experience for me. I will probably not present myself next year. That ate up some concurrent s...

Conference #2 My first meeting as a committee chair is over! I am relieved that it is over. I really enjoy spending time with the members of the committee and they are fun to be around, but the act of sitting and talking for 10 hours is wearing on a body that is used to moving all the time. I realized that I rarely sit still. I have not made any music today, or yesterday either. That is very unusual for me. I am always singing, keeping beats, and playing music. I did not listen to anything musical today either. How strange is that?? Off to the next meeting - I do not have to chair this one, and I shouldn't actually have to speak, either. Whew.

CONFERENCE IS HERE... ...and so am I. I am in the current mecca for US Music Therapists, eating food court chinese food and watching television. This is the life, hunh? I arrived after my very first full-body scan at the first airport. Both of my flights came in early, and my bag arrived with me! This is starting to be a banner conference year for me. My early conferences were not so easy. Should I be worried?? Nah. I think I have finally arrived. As a therapist/clinician/researcher/student of music therapy, I have enjoyed being involved with music therapists throughout my profession. The first conference I attended was in 1989. We gathered in Kansas City, and it was my first experience as a music therapist. I was a sophomore at a local university, and a bunch of us went to the conference together. I signed up to proctor several sessions, including a memorable session about how to write questions for the Board Certification examination. After that, the seniors took pity on me and took ...