music, therapy, and me

 Gotta Gonna Go On a Trip Purpose : To develop concepts of life-long leisure planning; to reminisce about travel; to assess group members’ ability to sequence, plan, and act in logical manner; social interaction; geography awareness; travel; abstract thought development Source : Original Song. © 2009 by Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Materials : Accompanying Instrument; pictures of objects people pack for a variety of trips (for example: keys, money, wallet, shoes, coats, others as appropriate for the types of trips to focus on. Some trips might be long vacations. Others may be errands to run around the town.); OPTIONAL: suitcase; actual items (rather than pictures); map or globe   Environment : Group members need to be able to hear and see the therapist   Song/Chant/Words : See sheet music attached. i                           ...

Today's Sentimental Sunday post is from September 15. 2015 . On this date, I shared a song that I composed for a consultation contract that I had been asked to do. I wonder if the school district is still using my materials. Anyway, check out the link for that free song! I used to share entire TMEs on my blog on Tuesdays. This was my practice until a comment on Music Therapist Unite made me very angry. The comment was basically critical of any music therapist who dared to ask for payment for their intellectual property. The comment was not directed or in reference to me at all, but it made me angry. The attitude of the new music therapist was that she should get anything that she wanted from other music therapists because she was new and needed ideas from others. She was upset because other music therapists (like me) required payment for access to our ideas and work. That was the end of free ideas from me because I found the attitude of "gimme, gimme" to be very privileg...

There is something just frustrating about September for me, and it comes in the form of being sick. As a result, I have written songs about allergies, and about not feeling good, and about the ugh that comes with the month of September. I tend to spend at least some of my valuable sick time during this month. We have significantly high ragweed pollen in the air right now with very high temperatures outside and someone is pumping out essential oils in fragrances that make me stop breathing, so things are just prime for me to get sick. Enough self-pity. Here is the Allergy Song... (For the record, if I was writing this today, I would significantly expand the procedure section...) The Allergy Song Therapeutic Music Experience Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC Purpose : To discuss health implications of being outside in nature; to provide humorous point of view to allergies.   Source : Original song and lyrics. © 2016 by Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC. All rights reserved. Mat...