No More Complaining About the Weather - Let's Focus on the World of Music Therapy Instead!

There are times when my mind gets mired into specific trains of thought. This is one of those times, I think, and I am trying really hard to pull myself out of the quicksand that is inclement weather days into something else. I've been writing lots about the "me" side of this blog lately and not so much about the "music" and "therapy" parts. It's easy to do when your schedule gets messed up and all you see is more inclement weather in your future...

Time to pull myself up and out.

I love being a music therapist. I love working with other music therapists to help them get to the best type of therapist that they can be. I thoroughly enjoy working with music therapy students and helping them figure out how to become music therapists during their internships. I like doing these things both in person and via webinars/recordings. I love starting an idea, offering that idea to other people, and then watching that idea expand in ways I never would have envisioned on my own. I enjoy making music with my clients. I am thrilled when they take songs from the music therapy room into their lives in other ways. All of these things are reasons why I want to continue to be a music therapist for my entire professional life.

I have lots of projects that I do as part of my love of music therapy. I write books (currently, my sing about songs collection has seven editions of therapeutic music experiences available!), I make visual aids (do you want some customized music therapy file folder activities? I can make them for you!), I have a Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can download resources for a nominal fee (really, NOTHING over $7.00 USD at the moment! There are also 2 FREE resources available - check it out!), and I am an approved CMTE provider (check out my first course, Composition and Creativity, for a cost-effective CMTE!) I am also developing a YouTube channel (hey, subscribe and you'll get a notification when I put something new up on the channel) that includes some Music Therapy Morsels and Therapeutic Music Experience ideas. 

 The one thing that I haven't really done during my music therapy career is publish my research. That's because I have never had a publication accepted. I always get one reviewer who loves everything about my paper and one who hates it from the title. In my experience, editors go with the one who hates it rather than the one who loves the paper as it is - no changes needed or recommended. So, I have lots of research papers that I have done over my years that will never be published. Oh well. I've come to terms with this particular situation.

 I was asked recently what types of pain I was trying to fix for my consumers. It's an interesting question, isn't it? I think I want to make resources and concepts available so that other music therapists don't have to sit and figure things out. I want folks to go to my blog for TME Tuesday posts to inspire their own session strategizing. I want to help you, dear music therapy reader, to work less and do more. Work smarter, not harder!![[[[[[[[[[[[[[cat typing].

 I know that my own pain in my music therapy career comes from several areas - lack of CMTE opportunities at an affordable price, feeling stuck in a routine when working with clients, feelings of compassion fatigue and burnout, resources that are not really made for music therapists, constantly having to develop new ideas to use with clients, and feeling isolated in my role as music therapist. These things are what spur me onto making things for others - I want each and every music therapist out there to know that there are resources available to solve whatever problem they are having in their lives - I've been through them as well, and I think I can help. 

I am going to spend as much time as possible to offer ideas and resources to you all through this blog. It is time to get back to my mission in my music therapy life - helping other music therapists with being the best music therapists possible!

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