music, therapy, and me

I did not make anything yesterday, but I did move my desk to a different orientation in my office/craft basement room. That has resulted in a huge mess, but it has also allowed me to see things and evaluate how things are arranged in my living space. It was worth the strain on my back to have a new orientation for my working space. I am almost finished with the transition. I still need to move things off the desk and into more permanent locations, but I am not finished figuring those places out. I have invested in lots of different types of storage options for all the different things that I have collected, so I am trying to figure out where these things will live from now on. The main problem that I have is that I have to remove things from places so I can fill those places back up with other stuff... As I move things, I often find inspiration in the form of notes or resources that I have collected and then not looked at for a time. I have old ideas that I want to develop further writ...

My home is full of stuff. Music Therapy stuff that I have collected, curated, and used over my career of 33 years as a music therapist. Thirty of those years were at a facility where I worked with school-aged clients in a residential and school setting, so I have lots of materials that are meant to spark the most uninterested of people into some sort of interaction. Add into that all the years of textbook purchases, intern training information, and several decades as a church musician, and I have lots of music and music therapy stuff around, and it is piling up. Right now, my focus is on getting things from work to home. I am almost finished with that process. Once everything is home, I will be ready to organize into my piles - give, sell, toss, and keep. Fortunately, once everything is home in two weeks, I will have all sorts of time to engage in organizing, but I am starting to do some of that right now. I am looking around my space and am trying to envision how I will need to access...

Today is my busiest music therapy day during the summer. I have five music therapy groups and one leisure skill group to get through in a hot, humid room where I cannot change the air conditioning level. After today, I have only five more sessions to get through before a three day weekend. Last week, one of my afternoon groups arrived 30 minutes early and then got miffed when I asked them to leave and return when they were scheduled. "But it was at noon on the board in the classroom." "The schedule says 12:30. I'll see you all again in 30 minutes." "Hmph." (That was the staff member.) I thought I was losing my mind. Let's hope that doesn't happen again today. We are exploring my decrepit piano this week. It keeps breaking and then breaking more, but it is time to use it before I leave. Many of my students do not realize that the instrument is in the music therapy room all the time. They act like they have never seen the instrument before despit...

For my entire career, I have rebelled against the idea of session planning. I struggled with procedure sections in my undergrad training. I've written about this recently - how I would take the example in our practicum handbook, change the details but not the format, and would be told that it "was not right." That was all the feedback that I would get. I would ask how to make those sections "right," and no one could tell me how to do that. I had a revelation in the summer between my junior and senior years (thank all that is good in the universe), and then I was able to figure it all out, but that experience has left me a bit leery of writing session plans. One of the biggest issues that I have with session plans is that there is so much that happens in a session, and it is impossible to foresee every response. Plain old impossible! So, I don't write session plans. I haven't for my entire career because I find the practice to be busywork. Instead, I focu...

Not many words today - lots of pictures!! Join us at 2026 Creativity Camp - link to registration and all the details here . 

Today is a lazy Sunday. I spent my Friday engaged in music therapy resource creation, my Saturday in actively avoiding anything other than sorting materials and clearing carpet, and now it is Sunday. Today's plans include a shower, washing bedding, a movie at the local theater, and spending some more time with music therapy stuff. I have to arrange my first-ever full conference scheduled for the second weekend in August. That is something that is zapping my energy right now. I have cleared some spaces in my home which has helped a bit with my attitude. Basically, I shifted piles from here to there, but I also went through those piles and started the sorting process. I want to get materials sorted into zones in my house. Instruments in one location, visuals in another, books in yet another. You know what I mean. This morning is something that I treasure. After working as a church music director for 26 years, it has only taken me 2 years to start to treasure my Sunday mornings. No mo...

I spent a good part of yesterday putting together three projects as well as the task analyses for those projects in preparation for Creativity Camp 2026 . It was fun to create things to share with others, and I have three more projects to complete to get ready for Camp. I like it when I feel that I have made some progress towards reaching the end of my quests. Today's quest is to make a difference in the upstairs portion of my home. There is laundry to put away, dishes to wash, carpets to vacuum, and all of that cannot be started until some of the music therapy materials are stacked and sorted. Before all of that can happen, though, I have to go pick up my grocery order and get the food put away. I will also need to eat as I keep moving through my to-do list. I am feeling kinda jumpy and twitchy today. I don't know why, but my back itches, and I just keep having muscle twinges in my arms. I don't know if this is a reaction to my summer SAD or if I am just overwhelmed and th...

This is the most challenging season for me, and it makes it difficult to get motivated to do ANYTHING! I am getting ready for a large life change (retirement, here I come, kicking and screaming and trying to pretend that I know what I'm doing) that is adding stressor after stressor after stressor. My brain is struggling with all sorts of things, so I am taking out my self-care and brain sparking routines to help me get started on some creative projects. When I find myself in a creativity slump, the only thing that really works to get me feeling inspired or remotely interested in composing or drawing or making things for my music therapy clinic is to create using rules. The rules are arbitrary, made up by me, and something that I can break at any time if inspiration takes hold. I have found that my rules for creating help me break out of a stagnant state. When I am in need of some new songs, I break out my composition kit and my rules. Chance composition is the best technique for me...

One of my favorite movies is called Bowfinger . It stars Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy (in a dual role), Christine Baranski, Heather Graham, and a bunch of other people. There is time when one of Eddie's characters is experiencing a crisis brought on by the rest of them, and he is talking to his spiritual leader. He has established a mantra of "Keep it together," which becomes an acronym for him and is also his name - easy to remember. "Keep it together, keep it together, K-I-T, keep it together." Since I love this movie, this has become one of my mantras over the years. I love it because it reminds me of something I love as well as gives me something to think about and hold onto during times that challenge me. This is one of those times. I am entering a time of year that is usually pretty difficult for me to navigate. I am not fond of the summer months where I live. I tend to have more depression symptoms during the summer months than the winter months, and this y...

When I was in my undergraduate training, learning how to be a music therapist for the first time, we did all sorts of data collection during our clinical practica. We did time sampling and frequency counts and all sorts of mathematical processes to interpret the data that we took. As a graduate student, I had to delve deeper into data analysis. Data drove everything in those environments, and there is a role in my current job, but it is not as difficult as it was when I was in school. Here are some setting details: I am an educational enrichment therapist. This means that I see every student in the school for an hour a week. I do not do eligibility assessments, formal assessments, or carry any IEP goals. All students have music therapy whether they want it or not. All of the goals and objectives that I carry are internal rather than formal. Most of the music therapy sessions are groups. Individuals are rare these days. Okay. Now that you know where I am coming from, let me explain how ...

I am currently organizing my Creativity Camp packets for Creativity Camp 2026. If you don't know, this is my latest CMTE offering to the music therapy community, especially those who like making things for their music therapy sessions. Part of the CMTE is a digital kit with instructions and all the information needed to make several projects. Right now, I am going through the task analyses of each project and writing them down to include in the digital kit. Task analyses were something that we focused on when I was in my undergraduate education, and it was something that I struggled with at every turn. Some of my peers were able to do them quickly, and I was able to do it when I was simply writing an analysis - we had to do one on taking a shower. That was easy. My difficulty came when I was expected to write these analyses for clinical interventions. I think I was bogged down more on the "what-ifs" than just writing things. This was my major struggle during my clinical ...

Have you ever had a dream that you have thought about for many years? It might be something complex, or it might be something very simple, but it sticks with you? I have, and it is something that I am working on making a reality. I am getting ready to run my second Creativity Camp for music therapists, students, and interns. I am hoping that I will get some campers to come along to make some visuals for their clients. This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and it is time to get it started! We are going to spend some time on July 18th and 19th making tools to use in music therapy sessions with a variety of clients. This is an online class that comes with a digital kit of materials to print out and assemble. I am also offering additional physical material kits that will include everything that you need to complete the projects - except the laminating because that is difficult to mail - as well as access to the recordings and the live camp session. This has been approved for 8 CMT...

I have an idea that has been approved for CMTEs through CBMT, and I am ready to start talking about it! It’s time for camp – musictherapywork.com’s Creativity Camp, that is! Join us on July 18 th and 19 th to create music therapy visual aids, network with other music therapists, students, and interns, and to explore ways that visual aids enhance what we bring to sessions with our clients.   Continuing Music Therapy Education Information www.musictherapyworks.com offers synchronous (live presentations) and asynchronous (recorded presentations) on topics relevant to music therapists. The course information is available for music therapists after payment is received. Participants have 90 days from time of the symposium. Successful completion of the course includes the completion of the course evaluation. Course Event: Creativity Camp by musictherapyworks.com When:   July 18, 2026 and July 19, 2026 – from 2pm-6pm each day (central daylight time) What: Creativit...

Yesterday, I was so proud of myself for posting a Monday topic, but then I realized it was actually Tuesday. Ugh. That's the type of thing that runs around in my brain, even when it is just as silly as being a day off of my schedule. It is silly, but my time anxiety stretches into being incorrect about any sort of time. Once I changed the title of the post, I was able to let it go - well, sorta. This is my last official break before retirement. I managed to send off my paperwork for my pension yesterday. After I finished that task, I came home, sent off some ideas for CMTEs, figured out another CMTE situation, and then finished a book for my book challenge at my local library. Today's task is getting the glass replaced in my sliding glass door. The lawn folks kicked up a rock about a month ago that shattered the outside pane of my slider. They are coming to replace the pane today. I have to be available for 90 minutes (give or take) and have to clear the stuff right by the door...

I am craving routine in my life as I am transitioning into trying to figure out my new life situation. One of the places where I can achieve structure and routine is here in the blog, so I am going to head back into some of the post series that I have started in the past. I am hoping that I will be someone who is able to offer ideas and therapeutic music experience (TME) suggestions on a regular basis. On Mondays, we make things. I am someone who tries to remain within her budget by making things that I see rather than buying things that I discover. There is no reason why I should spend $20.00 for something that I can make in four hours. At least, that is what the voice in my head tells me. Why spend money on music dot spots when I can fire up my trusty laminator and make the same things on my computer?? (This particular little voice is my mother's voice. It is amazing how messages passed on by parents can just stick, isn't it?) Now, I know that there are many other people in t...

One of the things that you hear quite often is "find your why." For me, this has always been a bit strange as my "why" has been clear to me since I was fourteen. I have to be a music therapist. It fits me like nothing else. When I was contemplating what I wanted to do in graduate school, I was encouraged to explore options outside of music therapy. I spent lots of time thinking about what I wanted to do next, but I kept coming back to doing music therapy. I realized that I did not want to be an occupational therapist, but I wanted to do music therapy with occupational therapists. I didn't want to be a special educator, but I wanted to do music therapy in a special education setting. At the heart of all of my professional goals is that I want to be a music therapist. My "why" is that music is something that is accessible to all. It is something that has power and when guided, all people can use music to assist them in their unique goals and quests. As I...

Today is the second day of this week off, and I am only five weeks away from retirement. I am thinking about what I am going to do next, and things are coming into focus - sorta, kinda, well, it changes all the time. I am hoping that this is something that most retirees go through; the lack of a plan which makes it scary and exhilarating at the same time. I will be sending my pension information to the state offices on Tuesday to get my first pension payment at the end of July. I found a way to get some documents that I need to prove that I am who I am, so I will be sending my information in when the post office opens up again. That is the final step in this pension process, and it was my quest to get it finished before this time but the state of Texas screwed up my document request. Oh well. Here's the start of my plan: I enjoy sharing information with other people, especially with other music therapists. I love making things for music therapists to use to enhance their interactio...

You may be thinking "why May 21st as the start of a new year?" Valid question, but it is the start of my new year. Today is my birthday, and I am being recognized for retiring at the school district breakfast before heading back to work for the last three groups of the regular school year. After tomorrow's training, I will have some time to load up my car and bring more things back here before a week off. After that, I have four weeks of summer school before I am cut loose and ready to move out and move on. So, happy birthday to me, and thank goodness that this year is over! This year has been a challenging for me. It included colon cancer, the removal of about 16 inches of my large intestine (and the removal of my cancer), trips for my sister and mom to help me out with all of that rot, the introduction of new specialists into my medical routine and rotation, and more colonoscopy preparations than anyone should have in a 12-month span. I am ready for a new year of life a...

I was scrolling on my Instagram feed, the way that I do, and saw a post from a teacher speaking about using a kite flying analogy to teach a math concept to her high school students. They did not understand, and the teacher finally realized that it was because her students had never flown kites. She bought a bunch of kites and had the students fly them outside to get that experience. This post made me think a bit about experiences. One of the things that all humans do is assume that their lived experiences are similar to the lived experiences of all humans. In fact, there is a developmental process where children start to be aware of similarities and differences between them, their families, and the families of others. It is easy to assume that every person has flown a kite at least once in their lives, and this assumption also applies to us in the music therapy world. As a vintage music therapist, I have been involved in the music therapy world as both a student and professional for 3...