music, therapy, and me

I had a chance to show off one of my organizational systems this week when I shared my songwriting kit with a group of students. Sharing something that works for me is just plain old fun, and I enjoy it greatly. I like hearing what other people do in their systems, and I like sharing mine with others. This little songwriting kit is not fancy, but it does work for me, so why not let others in on the secret? My songwriting kit is a pencil pouch that includes some sheet music paper cut to size for my cell phone camera to take pictures for sharing TME ideas, two mechanical pencils, a really good eraser, some post-it notes (of course), and some index cards. The pencil pouch fits in my work bag without taking up too much space, and it is a Star Wars themed pouch with my favorite character in it, so it always makes me smile when I see it. Sometimes the simple things are the best. I have this kit because I tend to have ideas flit through my head when I am not close to my computer or software.

Forgive my interrupted posting schedule. I am simply trying to figure out some things in my life, and this interruption is part of the figuring out part. I am at the end of this figuring out part, and that is a good feeling. I know where I will go in my near future, and that makes me feel happy. Sorry for being so vague, but I cannot talk more about this topic. It is something that involves others besides just me, but there is something nice about being certain in my future, so there you go. For now, I am enjoying an opportunity to turn my attention towards something that I really want to pursue in our field - competency-based clinical training. I spent some time putting together a notebook with each of the AMTA Professional Competencies on a separate page. I intend to use this to parse out the competencies across all clinical training opportunities that music therapy students encounter in their preinternship and internship clinical training. It may sound funny, but I really believe t

It's here again.  Songwriting Sunday, and I think I am ready to talk a bit about how I write songs. Today, I think I will focus on my goal-based compositions. Anyone wondering what that is?? Here we go. There are times when I have to write songs to support and rehearse particular skills to match my clients' goals. The topics are not ones that are easily supported by precomoposed music, so it is my job to make the music that my clients can use in places other than music therapy. So, how do I do this? (NOTE: Please keep in mind that this is how I do things, not the only way to do things - you find the way that works best for you, okay?) I start with the goal and an assessment process. If my client's goals are already known to me, then I do a quick baseline assessment. If the client has a brand new goal, then I start from the beginning. I write task analyses for the different skills or levels of mastery for the goal. For example, if I am writing a goal for toothbrushing, I try

I want to focus on some fun things, and what better day (especially with the alliteration that I love so much) to focus on fun than on Fridays? I am filling out my blogging schedule with some themes, and this is one that I want to bring back. My word for 2024 is "play." I have been trying to focus on things that bring me joy and fun, so I think I will take Fridays as a day to focus on the things that I find fun in our profession - there are plenty of things that are a natural part of this job that are SO MUCH FUN! Today, I want to talk to you about improvising. (How many of you felt a cold chill up your back when you read the word, "improvising." like I do?) I promise, this is a good thing. I had a jazz band director that made me very afraid of improvising way back in junior high. That fear made me very anxious each and every time anyone told me to improvise in any situation because I was convinced that I could not do it. My internship director, Sheryl Kelly, fixed

I fell down a rabbit hole yesterday  morning during my extra preparation hour (which I have right now because we do not have all of our classrooms open). I started doing some music therapy thesis and dissertation exploration. I'm not really sure why I started all of this - my brain isn't fully awake at the moment, and I have a big headache, so things are not the best for remembering or thinking, but I found a couple of articles and dissertations that pulled me into reading.  One of them, by Rebecca Warren, intrigued me enough to have me go through most of it in the hour that I had available to me. The title, Examining Ableism in Music Therapy Education and Clinical Training: Student and Educator Perspectives , was interesting (full citation at the end of this post). I am someone who has done some studying about universal design and universal design learning, and I want to be someone who demonstrates the acceptance of all humans, so I am often interested in titles that include s

I am sitting at my computer, listening to an episode of J.A.G. , and wondering what I can possibly write about on this morning. This is why I need themes. I like having enough structure that I can predict what I will write about on most days, especially at the start of the work week. I don't always follow the structure, but I like having it in place. I started my Songwriting Sunday series two days ago. I continued with my Internship Supervision series yesterday, but I am not interested in doing anything with therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) this morning. I feel like I have done everything I can do with that particular topic right now. Until I get inspired with a new way to think about TMEs, I think Tuesdays will be something else entirely. I just don't know what they will end up being. Finger update - I have been playing the guitar for the past six days. My finger still hurts, but I am able to bend my finger enough to get all the chords and the strength seems to be okay - n

I must admit that I am getting ready for some changes in my internship program these days, and I am starting with the AMTA Professional Competencies which feel like they have changed since the last time I really looked at them, but I guess not (when I look at my current evaluation). Perhaps my thoughts about how different things look are spurred on by my desperate wish that the membership would have actually followed through on the "revision every five years" provision that was put into place about 10 years ago and would have revised this document twice in the past 10 years. This is not supposed to be a rant, so I will simply say that I feel that this document needs to be revised more than once every decade. Anyway... I am currently working on a competency-based clinical training project that is requiring me to delve deeply into the competencies, and I am enjoying the opportunity. There are so many things that I like about competency-based clinical training that I can go on a

Okay, all. I am here, trying out a new blog series that I haven't really tried out yet, but that is something that supports what I am already doing as a music therapist. Here we go - Songwriting Sunday !! Now, songwriting is something that I do all the time. I hope I'm not alone in this, because songwriting is also something that is just fun. After all, we had to go through all of our music theory courses, so why not use that knowledge for something that enriches our professional existence and that makes others look at us in awe. Songwriting is a superpower! Seriously. Who else can figure out melodies, harmonies, pitch centers, rhythms, tempi, lyrics, dynamics, styles, forms, and all that in a short amount of time. There aren't many people out there who can take an idea and turn it into a piece of music. We are part of a small group of people who have these skills. We need to celebrate that as much as possible! (Is anyone's imposter syndrome starting to rear its ugly he

Dearie, me. It is already Friday, and I have blogged about three or four of the last seven days here. I am getting closer to figuring out what I want to start writing about as themes (which is something I find I need in order to keep going with music therapy related topics on this blog - otherwise I end up just babbling on and on and on...). I am wondering if writing about composition from a clinical perspective would be something that would help me figure some things out. I used to write monthly therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) for sing about songs , but I stopped doing that on a regular basis a while ago. It would be nice to get back into writing music as a part of my regular routine. So, how about Songwriting Sundays? (I like alliteration, so something with an "S" at the beginning HAS to be on either Saturday or Sunday - it's corny, but it makes my heart happy, so...) I enjoy writing songs. I enjoy making things up as I go along as well. So, having a songwriting to

My goodness. My blogging practices are lagging this week but are significantly better than last week's. Usually, on Wednesdays, I spend time just talking about anything at all. In the past, I have used labels such as "woeful Wednesday," "weekly wrap-up Wednesday," "website Wednesday," and "webinar Wednesday." I remember why Wednesdays were woeful - that group was horrible and set the tone for the entire day, but that group is no longer together. Things have changed. As I continue to work on my journey of whatever this is, I am trying to figure out what types of things I want to focus on here. Perhaps Wednesdays could be a day where I think about what types of things I think music therapy students need to hear from professional music therapists. I could call it "Dear MT Student:" and go from there. Who knows if I will, but it is an option. I wonder if students would ask questions to be answered? That might be a good way to go. I enjo

I was able to wake up on time this morning and also haul my ponderous self out of my very comfortable bed only an hour later, so I am considering this a win. I have had significant difficulty getting up and out of bed since our last time change, and this is unusual for me. I can say that I feel 100% better than I did three days ago, so I am also considering that fact a win. As a result of recovering from my latest illness and my need to do things differently, I am trying to come up with new things to talk about here on my blog. This happens occasionally. I get an urge to shake my thinking up and one of the ways that manifests is in new topics for this space. So, I am not doing an internship supervision post today. If that is what you look for in my blog, please send me a message or leave a comment. I can continue that topic, if you want. Otherwise, I think I am going to leave that topic behind for a bit. In the past, I have used the following Monday labels: Make It Monday and Music Mon

Hello. My social media name is MJ, and I am a middle-aged woman who is also a music therapist. I work with persons with a variety of complex diagnoses, and I have a huge interest in all things music therapy clinical training. I am an internship director as well as a staff music therapist, and I am currently recovering from Influenza A - something that is going through my facility and my communities right now. I am currently feeling very tired, and I have neglected my writing habit woefully for the entire past week - something that is very unusual for me. The title of this blog is music, therapy, and me , so if you are here, I assume that you are interested in one or more of these categories. I know my sister reads the blog occasionally - I assume that she is more interested in the me  part of the blog than the other two categories, but I haven't really asked her about that... Hey, sissa!! I have been writing this blog for the past 17 years, and my writing habits have varied over al

My last three days have been taken over by allergies, so I haven't been doing much writing... or thinking... or anything other than sleeping due to medication side effects. It is Easter Sunday, so I have to slog over to see if anyone will show up for Sunday School (they didn't last year), and then lead worship for a full house. I am not feeling great, but that is usual these days. I will bark through the anthem and all the hymns. I will excuse myself during the sermon so I am not coughing loudly while the pastor is trying to speak. I hope my voice will hold out through the scripture readings. We will see. Since I am not feeling well, this is going to be it for today.  I hope to be back into feeling like writing tomorrow, but we'll see... 

This week is where my two roles in the professional world collide into a very long schedule of work, more work, worship, more worship, interrupted schedules, and exhaustion. It is Holy Week, the week in the Christian faith where believers commemorate the last days of Jesus before his death and resurrection. For church employees, like me, it means at least two extra worship services and more church than is on our typical weekly schedule. It means different music, more time involved in spiritual focus, and different things happening at different times in the week. I work in a publicly funded, special purpose school. The roots of the facility itself are deeply centered in the Catholic faith, but we no longer have a Catholic focus. When I first arrived at the facility so many years ago, we did have that particular religious focus. Fridays were fish days. The annual Christmas program included acting out the Nativity story. (I stopped that practice because I didn't feel that it was right

Today is the 31st anniversary of an important day in my life - the day I finished my internship and became a professional music therapist. I am proud of my career as a music therapist. I have been employed for my entire life except for about three months after my internship finished up. I have not been a music therapist for all of that time, but I have had the title of music therapist for the past 28 years. Before I became a "music therapist" in title, I was an activity director for children, a "QMRP" for adults, and a "Rehabilitation Therapist - Music" for adults. In the first and third of these jobs, I was able to do some music therapy, but music was not my primary way of doing my job. In the "QMRP" job, I was an administrator of three group homes and did not do any music therapy at all. My first two jobs did not last long, but they taught me some valuable lessons about myself as a music therapist and as a human being. I learned that I enjoy wo

Does anyone else find that nothing happens for a very long time and then EVERYTHING happens during one week per quarter? This is the week that I am the busiest for my first part-time job, that of director of music at a church, so naturally all sorts of stuff is happening this week in addition to my full-time job and the events of Holy Week. It starts today, the ramp-up, and continues until next Saturday when I will finally get a rest from it all. After that day, then the hoopla of Sunday begins. This is going to be a busy week. I have appointments, discussions, errands, bills, all sorts of things that need to happen right now so they will get finished. To add to the stress that is coming, my allergic reactions to Spring are going strong. My lips are chapped, and I am coughing which is how all this always starts. So, I have exhaustion and breathing issues to look forward to as well. Let's hope that it will be better than I am thinking it will be. I get to do my taxes today. Last yea

Oooh, boy. You know the speech I mean. You are sitting next to a stranger who insists on talking to you and THAT question comes up. "So, what do you do for a living?" There are many different variants of this question, but it all boils down to the same thing - what are you going to share with this stranger about a profession that everyone seems to know about but doesn't really understand? How far do you want to talk to someone about this profession and the things that go along with it? When I first started my career as a music therapist, people were often confused by the title, "MUSIC THERAPIST." It got to the point where I could predict when they would ask the follow-up question, "So, what is MUSICAL THERAPY, anyway?" It was a three second processing latency for everyone who asked me about my job. Three seconds to go through the mental database and then ask for more information. I would then launch into my elevator speech - the first little bit of inf

I am a vintage music therapist. This is something that I take some pride in because it takes grit and guts and a love for this profession to be able to claim 31 years in this role. It really does. In my career, I have not been able to find a music therapy job in the place I wanted to work, I have had to move for schooling and for work, I have taken pay cuts to move into a music therapy role, I have lived paycheck to paycheck, and I have finally become financially stable and successful. I have lived through significant changes in education and clinical training with our professional organization, and I have volunteered many ideas and hours for that same organization. I am a vintage music therapist. Being an older music therapist has perks and benefits, but it also has drawbacks. I am a member of Gen X - those latchkey kids who had moms who worked and who had lots of independent hours to fill. We are not easily defined as a group, and that's okay with me. I am also an oldest child of

I teach in a school setting. My clients are not easy to teach and often have aggression and significant difficulties with communication of emotions, wants, and needs. They often have not had many positive experiences in school settings and come to us for specialized special education services. One of those services is educational enrichment music therapy services. Being an educational enrichment therapist means that I see every student for an hour per week. I do not have IEP goals for clients - music therapy is not considered a related service at my facility - I do not have to do eligibility assessments because every student is automatically eligible for music therapy just by being admitted to the school. All of this is just to give you a glimpse into my facility and how I operate before I head into my current sessions. Part of what I do in my sessions is introduce my clients to some general music education concepts because many of my clients have never been allowed to engage with inst

It is the Monday after Spring Break, and I am trying really hard to get back into my work routine. I did not sleep well last night - probably because I had the alarm set which always leads me into not sleeping well. I was up about 2 hours before my alarm was set to go off. I will be doing three groups and a dyad today, bus duty, and then occupational therapy after work.  I am currently stuck in limbo mode when it comes to my internship process. None of my applicants have completed their applications - I am waiting on one letter of recommendation for them all, so I am not ready for an intern in June. Three months is a bit too short of a transition period for me. I am also waiting to hear about a job application that I submitted, and things are changing at work as well, so it may be a good thing that applicants aren't showing much interest in the internship. I have not had an intern since the middle of January, and I am enjoying aspects of being the sole music therapist at the facili