music, therapy, and me

Friday is finally here, and it looks like my morning commute will not be as difficult as I thought it would be. At least, that is what I am still hoping. It is about 4:40 am, and I am trying to figure out when I will leave my house and head out into the wind chilly world. I have an intern graduation today. FINALLY! We were thwarted in our efforts to get this internship finished by Mother Nature who sent snow and ice on Tuesday and Wednesday leading to snow days due to impassible roads. Today, we are going in NO MATTER WHAT because it is time for my intern to get done with it all!!  I was asked if I was doing a celebration for my intern. I do not do that because every time I plan a party of any sort, something happens that prevents people from attending. I've had to take interns to the emergency room on party days. Once is just bad luck, but I've also planned parties and then accidents closed down the highway getting to the venue. Water mains break on my party days. Ice storms. ...

Please excuse me as I deviate from my usual Sunday post to talk about today, and its significance to my family. This is my mother's birthday. It is also the day that my father died, three years ago. This day is hard to navigate because while Dad died on this date, it is also a day for celebrating my Mother. It is hard to do both. As a result, I try to mark the anniversary of my Dad's death the day before rather than on today's date. This year, I am reminded of my parents' mortality more than I have been in the last two years. My mom got sick and had to be in the hospital for five days just recently. We didn't know what was going on, and it was pretty scary. We were able to rule out lots of things - not a heart condition, not the gallbladder, things like that - but it took a long time to figure out what was going on. It turns out that it was a reaction to the medication her cardiologist prescribed. She is now off that medication and seeing all sorts of new doctors to...

My dad died yesterday in his sleep. This was not unexpected, but it was somewhat fast when I consider that he was calling me from the McDonalds parking lot the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then collapsed two days later and never recovered from that incident. We were praying for an easy transition, and it seems that is what he experienced. We think he died around 1:30am his time, which is when we all woke up for a moment. I laid in bed feeling like going to work was not going to be a feasible idea, my mother felt a release and went back to sleep, and my sister started crying. My brother called me at 4:30am their time to let me know that he had died and that the hospice folks were on their way to assist with things. My sister called me about 30 minutes later and we sat with our video cameras and cried together for a bit. She arranged some substitute activities for her class of second graders and then went over to the house to be there with my mother. It was my mother's birthday. I...

Do you know that the World Federation of Music Therapy has decided that March 1st is International Music Therapy Day ? Isn't that fun? I didn't do much last year for Music Therapy Day, but I'm thinking about doing something this year. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'll figure out something. I'm going to start with a poster on my bulletin board. After that? Who knows?? Having a day for music therapy advocacy and recognition around the world is a really fun idea. I enjoy the thought that there are music therapy friends in Taiwan who are celebrating this unique profession at the same time that there are music therapy friends in South Africa and Canada and Sweden and here in the states doing their own celebrations. I wonder what we can do to make this more of a recognized day rather than just something that we do as music therapists... I encourage you to head over to the World Federation of Music Therapy site to see what types of things are h...

I'm not a big fan of Halloween - the hype just gets to me after a while - but I am going to wear a costume and go to Trunk or Treat this evening. I will arrange a small ball game for kids to play in order to get their candy - I believe in earning things rather than just getting things. I have purchased my candy (all 798 pieces of it - I ate two pieces), and my costume is coming together. I've decided to be "The Napper." I can wear my big, comfy robe, my slippers, and some shorts underneath while also wearing my superhero cape. I'm not very good at making up costumes - I don't ever want to spend money, so I'm stuck with things around the house. I went trick or treating as a child dressed as an adult for SEVERAL years in a row - see what I mean? Last year, I went as Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. It was a great mediocrity. So, I am going out into the world, wearing my costume and getting ready for the post-Halloween crash. Just in case you were wo...

Happy March 1st, also known as World Music Therapy Day for all of us music therapists! I am currently getting ready to celebrate this day through a Skype interview with a potential intern, purchasing things for one of my presentations, and spending time with my family. I am not going to be doing much with actual music therapy today - which is how all of the other World Music Therapy Days have actually happened. For some reason, I am not around my clients on this day, and I have never celebrated this day with any of my clients. Hmm. Maybe I should reserve this day and the week around it for a celebration with clients next year... I'll put that on my calendar right now! Done. I love the idea of a day where all music therapists celebrate our wonderful profession. Sure, being a music therapist has its downfalls and challenges, but all professions do, so it is very important that we celebrate the great things that happen in our clinics and therapeutic interventions, the small step...

Have you heard? March 1, 2018 is World Music Therapy Day!!  I am planning on celebrating WMTD with my family just before the start of the Western Region's conference. I'm not going to go to the opening ceremony - no real reason to be there for me - so I am going to celebrate being a music therapist by not being a music therapist that day. I am going to spend some time with my family, thinking deeply about being a music therapist. My clients will celebrate with a day of doing what they want to do in the therapy room, rather than having to do what I ask them to do. My celebration will last an entire week with most of it being at a conference, but not all of it. I like the idea of a specific day to focus on music therapy. We've had other days, but they have always been on July 4th, so my profession was a bit overshadowed by other things happening in my country. This date is a good one. The beginning of March won't be as hectic or distracting. I think there is no bett...

I am going to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time - start a newsletter! If this is something you might be interested in, please head to this page to sign up. I am going to start slowly - newsletters every three months. There will be four pages in this first edition (scheduled to be released on April 30, 2017). I want to include information from all of my music therapy interests, including therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) and everything else that I like doing for the greater music therapy community. If you are interested in hearing a bit more about what I do over here at the website, this is an opportunity for you! I hope that you will sign up for the newsletter. That's it for now. I'm going to get ready for my Online Conference for Music Therapy Board meeting and a day of picking things up off the floor! Newsletter edition 1:1 is coming soon! Please sign up.

I am currently in a time of "hurry up and wait." This happens to me when I start running out of time to finish projects but have lots to do in the span of a week or two. In two weeks' time, I have two presentations, an inservice day, three deadlines (two are self-imposed and may have to change), a worship service to coordinate, and my regular work. In addition, I am slowly working on clearing my living space. I thrive when I have lots of things to do and many different projects. I work a bit on everything and will eventually find that things get finished.  Right now, I am finishing my pre-approved provider application for CBMT . I was thrilled to find that I have enough prior presentations to fill up my menu of choices for music therapists seeking continuing education credits. That's a bunch of work that has already been done. All I have to do now is to transform these presentations into recordings, and I am done! Things are moving ahead. I alphabetized my vis...

I took a day off yesterday to celebrate something that's been a long time coming - my release from care for a work-related injury. Eighteen months ago, I ripped my left Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) completely. This was during a behavior management situation with a client where I twisted the wrong way after being pushed. As a result, I've had 18 months of braces to support the knee, surgery, pain medications, crutches, therapy, and now, release from care. My knee doesn't feel exactly like it did before it got broken, but it is SO much better than it was before surgery (which occurred exactly one year from this day). The recovery process was tedious and at times excruciating, but the therapy worked and I am able to walk with confidence now. I am still hesitant about jumping and running, but I am going to work on those movements to decrease my anxiety. I am guessing that eventually my knee will feel normal to me, but it doesn't quite feel that way now. Anyway. I to...