music, therapy, and me

I spent most of the weekend getting things ready for my campers who are going to meet with me in a bit less than two weeks. It was a weekend tied to the computer, which is not always great, but it makes me think about how I create things for my clients. I hope that there will be some more folks sign up for camp, but the people who will be there will be fun to get to know. I am enjoying a bit of creativity when it comes to projects and how we will put things together. So, I have finished the lyric board, the game board pieces, the fill-in-the-blank songs, and the choice board. I still have the monster file to finish up before every project will be finished and ready to disseminate to my campers. OOOH! This is so much fun! This is something that I would LOVE to make an annual event. I did one of these back in 2015, and I wanted to do more, but life interfered. So, now that I have the time, I will work on making Creativity Camp a place where all music therapists can get together to make t...

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 was scrolling around Instagram this morning and found a FREE world music summit opportunity, so I signed up! As you may know, I do a "Country of the Month" theme in my music therapy sessions. Each month, I feature the music and some of the cultural elements of a different country. We learn about the instruments, we watch videos about the traditional and current music played in the country, and we learn a bit about what life is like in different countries. It is an interesting process to introduce the world to my clients who often do not understand the concept of language, cultural differences, and other aspects of culture and community. West music (I love them!) is sponsoring this summit, and I am hoping that I can get tomorrow off so I can attend most of the presentations. This is not something that is preapproved for Continuing Music Therapy Education (CMTE) credits, but it will not be difficult to make a case for myself and for CBMT about why this is important to learn. ...

Let's talk about music therapy with adolescent clients on Saturday, January 24, 2026 - Three CMTEs for $30 USD. Topics include age and developmental considerations, the ethics of music censoring, and a group discussion about things we can do with our clients! Get ideas for therapeutic interventions to take back with you and use on Monday! More details here: http://www.musictherapyworks.com/morethanlyricanalysis.html Have you seen this graphic on music therapy social media feeds? I really hope so. I am getting ready to start this symposium for the music therapy community who, like me, work with adolescents and find little to no resources available. Let's work together to make this happen!! I hope that you will join me for this discussion in (gulp) 17 days!

Yesterday, I received notification that I am now a pre-approved provider through the Certification Board for Music Therapists again!! This is the second time around for me, and I am hoping that I can make this into something beneficial for me and for the music therapy community. I am beyond excited that this happened before the holidays, and I am looking forward to my first CMTE opportunity! I have plans - SO many plans - so, I am going to work on things during the next couple of weeks. It is time to get started on all of this in order to transition into the next iteration of my life!! Be on the lookout for our first CMTE offering, coming next month, especially if you are someone who works with adolescents in music therapy who are diagnosed with intellectual or developmental concerns. I can't wait!! See you soon??

I am taking the next two Fridays off for professional development and for collecting some CMTEs for this certification year. I am doing this for several reasons. First, by taking these next two Fridays, I will only miss one clinical session. Second, by taking the second Friday, I will miss having to go to the circus. The circus is a source of trauma for both myself and my mother. I am the reason that my siblings never went to the circus with our family. Neither Mom nor I could handle a repeat of what happened the day we went when I was a toddler! Sorry, siblings, but I'm not all that sorry, if you know what I mean! For some reason, the administrators at my facility are REALLY good at scheduling mandatory participation for my trauma triggers. To avoid the trauma response in myself, I have had to do things like this - take professional time to avoid being placed in situations where my trauma experiences take over my rational mind. I don't share that I am filled with fear when I h...

This is the first year of my seventh certification cycle as a board-certified music therapist. I am going to say, right now, that I usually send in my CMTEs once per cycle, and usually at the end of year four, and that I usually spend very little money on my CMTEs. I take full advantage of all the opportunities for collecting free continuing music therapy education credits. So, if you are a MT-BC who has gone through your first certification cycle (at least), you can skip this paragraph, but if you haven't gone through a recertification process, let's talk a bit about how to get CMTEs. You do not have to pay money for every single CMTE that you have to get to continue your certification. You can get many credits for things that you might already be doing. It is always a good idea to submit things that you are not sure about because the worst thing that CBMT can say is that there is no clear link to the Board Certification Domains. The good news is that almost everything that yo...

It is Monday of Professional Development Week, and I am looking forward to two long weekends in a row. My intern and I will be spending our time later this week in various trainings and webinars and independent learning. I spent last Friday doing a training about how to teach readers with different learning challenges, so I am in a training type mood. Next week is the holiday week, so we will work on Monday and Tuesday again and then have the rest of the week off as well. This is one of the reasons that I like November - I spend a good part of the month not at work!! Two four-day weekends in a row are refreshing (I don't count Sundays since I work on Sundays...). I am going to spend some time engaged in continuing education and self-care as well. There is something nice about pursuing continuing education. I enjoy being able to find my own topics and things that I want to learn more about. One of those topics is always competency-based clinical training, so I will be spending some ...

Music therapy friends - I'm starting some monthly meets.   Our first Monthly Music Therapy Meet will happen on January 12, 2021 at 8EST/7CST/6MST/5PST.    Attendance is free for everyone. The meeting will be held via Zoom - I will be sending out links for those who respond to the survey link below on the 7th.   Please fill out the survey to indicate what you would like to get out of this type of community-building event. I am especially interested if you want me to turn this into an event that has CMTEs available - there will be a cost for the CMTEs but not for the Meets - anyone will be able to attend those for free at any time.   I will record these meetings, so you do not have to be present to get the CMTEs or to learn from us all.   Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJ9MN1I0ihNKshFw26LIf14SdOvp7f8rGwbgFPfRRRsRMLGQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Happiest of New Years to you and yours! I am sitting in my quiet apartment, looking at frozen r...

It is the end of this calendar year, and I always become nostalgic when it comes to changing the year from one to the next. This year has been full of challenges and ups and downs, and I feel the need to talk about where I am in this moment right here, right now. I took my cat's leftover consumables to the vet yesterday to give the resources to cats who will be able to use them. I have closed the door to her bathroom and haven't cleaned out her litter box yet. I know that it is silly not to clean up, but I just can't do it yet. I am allowing myself the opportunity to grieve the way I need to grieve. I will know when it is time to say that final goodbye. I also went to my Occupational Therapist for my second appointment. I increased my range of motion in all joints but am not to full mobility or range yet. She told me to start playing the piano and to attempt the guitar again. I also have these wonderful straps to "help" me stretch. Doesn't that look like fun? ...

My word for this year is "Evolve." I selected the word at the end of last year as a way to focus my energies on the things I think are really important to me - learning, growth, and enjoyment of life. I have done pretty well with this word as a guide, especially considering what has been happening in this 2020 year, so I am continuing to make it a focus for myself. This word has led me to do some things that I would have been scared to do if I didn't have this inspiration prodding me along. Now, many of these things did not work out the way I thought they would (again, 2020), but I put myself out there and tried to grow!! I feel like I am doing my part to keep this word a part of my focus. I have been thinking about my professional evolution lately. I feel a bit stagnant in how I am doing my job lately. I feel like I am wasting time, and that is a feeling that I do not like in myself. I need a professional goal and something to challenge me while I'm at work. Now, don...

It is SO past time for this particular project, so I am taking some time during the next 9 days to review my internship program and adjust some of the requirements, assignments, and timings of things. This project is one that I take on every couple of years and is something important for me as an Internship Director (ID) and as a therapist. This time around, I have LOTS of things to think about as I get ready to welcome intern #30 and intern #31 into my program in the next several months. This recent pandemic has illustrated several things to me as a therapist. First, I think that telehealth is here to stay. I don't think it will ever take over the face-to-face interactions that many of us currently miss right now, but I think it will continue to be a niche of all human interactions from now on. We have found ways to keep doing elements of music therapy through an electronic interface, and there will always be clients who will want this type of interaction over others. So, tele...

After attending any sort of conference, it always takes me a couple of days to assimilate the information that I've learned into a semblance of order. I tend to try to soak in as much knowledge as possible, so I am constantly taking notes and scribbling in my notebooks, but I don't often take many mindful moments during the conference itself to reflect and think about what I am hearing. I have a fear of missing out on some tidbit of life-changing information so I go into sponge mode - you know, soaking in everything I can until I cannot soak in any more? Anyone else?? This is one of the reasons that you rarely see me at the more social gatherings of conference. I need time away from the need to soak up stuff to wring myself out and start the process of synthesizing information. I am also an introvert who gets completely and totally exhausted by the need to interact with people all day, every day. I tend to get more hugs during conferences than the rest of my year, and the p...

I have spent some of this morning updating my website with information about my new CMTE course. ( Check it out here - tickets to the live event go on sale on October 27th! There are only 24 seats available. End of sales pitch!) While I was paying the fee for the course, I took some time to print out three copies of the new CMTE Options Overview Chart. I am so excited about some of the changes. I now get 10 CMTEs for five of the interns I supervise!! This is so much better than the 4 I was getting before with a lower cap as to how many credits I could use!! I can now get more credit for the presentations that I give on a regular basis!! I am so excited about these changes! We can now earn 5 CMTEs per music composition! Oh my goodness! I can get credit for a self-published book!!! I am so pleased with the new opportunities available to me. This is great!! I am now going to sit down and start to calculate my current hours based on what I've been doing since my recertification la...

I am excited to announce that I will be hosting a 10-hour Continuing Music Therapy Education course on Internship Supervision. This 10-hour course will be held in three bits over a weekend, and will include 3 hours of ethics!! It was approved by CBMT yesterday, and I am getting ready to start marketing it to all the music therapists out there who want a bit more information about the nuts and bolts of supervising music therapy interns. I am so excited about this. I've set it up to go on three weekend days - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the second week in December. The nice thing about this particular course is that it can be split up into several different formats - weekly for 2 hours for 5 weeks or in one VERY LONG day or in three evenings. This time around, I am going to ask course participants to give up their evenings during one weekend. Who knows what I will do the next time around. Tickets will launch on October 27th, but you heard about this new course here before...