Some current events can help advocate MT

This month is a great one to be discussing advocacy. Recently, there have been a couple things that have brought music therapy to the eyes of the general population. We can use this as a means for advocacy!

We all know the tragedy that befell Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona recently. If you have been keeping up with the news, you will know that she has survived a shooting but faces a long road to recovery. The media of course has been following her progress. Recently ABC news ran a clip on Giffords, and mentioned the "high-tech" therapies that might help Gifford. An example of this, he says, is music therapy. He gives a nice, short explanation of how MT might help Giffords redevelop her speech and communication.



In addition to this, there is a movie being shown at the Sundance film festival (going on RIGHT NOW!) about music therapy: The Music Never Stopped. Read about it here, on the AMTA website! And then visit their website and contact them to request a screening in your area. Like their facebook page (or Myspace or Twitter) and comment there, too.



This is a great opportunity to contact Giffords' fellow representatives and bring to light the greatness of music therapy. As the general population learns more about our profession, we hope that they will let their government representatives know that they want more of us. In the long run, this will mean a higher demand for music therapy and thus, music therapists. This means more jobs!

Write letters, emails, or make phone calls that mention this ABC news clip and the Sundance film festival movie and let the representatives know that music therapy is important to you.

Interactive post: Black Swan (comment!)

In the previous post on advocacy, I mentioned the different hats we wear. I’m sure that many of you can relate that it is close to impossible to take off your therapist hat when not on the job. By this, I mean that we have rewired our brains to think analytically and therapeutically all the time. And never has this been more apparent to me than this past weekend.

I would love to know what you guys think of the new film, Black Swan. I went this past Monday with a group of friends to see the movie in theatres. I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone with plans to see it, but I will say that Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) has a whole mix of issues. And while some will interpret the movie differently, I saw evidence of various mental health issues. And of course I thought to myself, how could music therapy help Nina?

The answer to this will differ depending on which music therapist you talk to. Really, there can’t be a wrong answer to this considering Nina is a fictional character in a movie that is made to raise eyebrows.

Nina was a girl in a crisis. First and foremost, I think she needed crisis intervention, as her life was spiraling out of control. But following this, I thought Nina might really benefit from both individual AND group therapy. One possible goal might be to improve self-esteem. If the group therapy included other members of the ballet, an added benefit would be improved group cohesion.

Considering the population and appropriate goals, what are some music therapy interventions you might use in this case?
Please leave a brief comment with your ideas!

Let Me Explain Something You May Not Know

Sometime within these past five years, I became an advocate of music therapy. I’d like to believe I know myself pretty well, but somehow I managed to transform into this role by accident. It was pretty sneaky how it happened, considering the fact that I was NOT looking for this hat to wear on top of all the others. And let’s just be honest here. You’re probably wearing that hat as well.

An advocate of music therapy is any person that stands up for our field. It might simply be someone that answers the question, “What is music therapy?” We answer this question a lot. Beyond this, students and professionals regularly practice advocacy when they dress up and attend an observation, practicum, internship, or other session. Generally, if you wear the hat of music therapist or music therapy student, then you can already consider yourself an advocate.

Knowing that you are already an advocate of music therapy, I want you to consider two things. One, in your everyday life, represent your career choice to the best of your ability. This means dress appropriately, speak intelligently, and act professionally. Put your best into every meeting, planning, and session. Two, is it possible to do more? If you love your field, let people know it. Make your circle just a little larger and teach people the reasons you love music therapy. Speak up and make your voice just a little bit bigger.

Because government has a hand in everything we do, the ultimate goal here is to let the big guys know that our field is worth a penny. You can do this on whatever level makes you feel comfortable. If you are comfortable speaking out on behalf of music therapy within your current circle of friends, this increases awareness in hopes that they might spread your word in their own circles. If you wish to go beyond this, you can speak out to businesses and potential music therapy clients. These are the people that can directly invest in our field. One of the greatest impacts I think you can make however, is to directly contact government representatives. If this is where the thought of advocacy gets scary, let me help make it less intimidating.

Generally, there are three layers of representatives: national, state, and local.

National level:
You have two senators to represent your state and one congressman to represent your district or community (that makes three letters).
U.S. Senate: www.senate.gov/ (search for your state in the drop down box)
U.S. House of Representatives: writerep.house.gov/

State level:
Find the website for your state legislature. The number of representatives that you can contact will depend on your state.

Local level:
Find the website for your city council and county commission (or find the equivalent of this; the names of these will vary depending where you live). The number of these will also vary.

With just a few letters (and they can all be the same, folks, just change the header!) you can get word directly to the people that directly influence our field. If a bill ever comes to their attention that involves music therapy, they may remember your letter and vote in its favor! The more they hear the words “music therapy,” the more likely it is to stick. So make your voice heard. With this new year, make a resolution to contact at least one representative. And what to say? Answer that question, “What is music therapy?” Tout the benefits. Mention the incredible research supporting it. The point, I think, is just to say “Music therapy is important to me, and as my representative it should be important to you too.”

Well advocate, thank you for reading this blog post. This may be one of the most important posts I make all year. If you have questions (I will answer any to the best of my ability!) or comments, please leave a message below.

Welcome 2011!

Well let me just say,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm sure we've all at least considered making New Year resolutions. One of mine is to post more frequently on this blog. So look forward to more activities, ideas, and conversations to be had in 2011!

On a more personal note, I begin grad school today. I have grown up a lot since this blog first began. When I made my first post, I had no idea what my internship would have in store. Graduation was one of the best days of my life, and it was one of the reasons 2010 was so great to me. I look forward to 2011 as well. This year, I begin my first music therapy job, become board-certified, complete a thesis, and hopefully graduate by December!

I am thankful to everyone that reads this blog, especially those that check back regularly. You guys keep me motivated to continue writing.

That said, I look forward to future blogging. I hope that everyone has had an amazing start to this New Year and I hope it will be as fruitful to you as I hope it will be for me.

Can I just take a second to say...

I graduated!

Welcome to the actual ceremony. GREAT speaker I might add. Congrats to all those (especially MT!) who graduated.

This is me and my beautiful family (and boyfriend). They all came to support me on my big day.

Understanding family dynamics

This activity will help your adolescent patients express and communicate their perception of family. It will help them to speak out about the dynamics between individuals, each person's role, and what goes on in the household. I also see this as being a great family counseling intervention.

In this activity, the therapist first teaches the patient about different instruments you might find in a band or orchestra. As you teach about each one, provide music to showcase the sound of that instrument. Then encourage your patient to come up with a few words to describe each one. For example, they might describe a clarinet as being emotional, sensitive, and compassionate. After you have taken the time to create a list of all these instruments and their assigned characteristics, ask the patient to assign each family member to one of those instruments. They might say that their sister is the clarinet because she is always there to listen to problems and helps by giving advice. Truth be told, it doesn't matter how they describe the instrument. (A friend of mine will tell you that she only knows clarinet players as being weird.) People's perceptions will differ, but ask the patient to describe why he or she labeled the instrument (and in turn the family member) in that way. This activity will hopefully get the patient to open up and gives us the opportunity for a lot more discussion and therapeutic intervention.

Beyond this, the therapist might use this to address conflicts with peers or bullying by having the patient describe different students at school or other kids in the community.

Music Bingo

Why do we sometimes struggle so much with activity ideas when the solutions to our problems are already out there under our nose? All it takes is a little creativity to turn a popular game into its sisterly music version. Here, using the ever popular game of Bingo, numbers are replaced with songs (or you may choose to use song lyrics to make it more difficult). Play a song and have patients identify it by covering up the space on the board. The first to get five squares in a row has Bingo!

Click here to use some Bingo sheets I have already made.

Graduation, here I come!

I finished my internship today!!!

Watch this blog for new updates, coming soon (now that I have the time!)!

Digestion song to the tune of "I'm Yours"

My great friend Andrew (MTI in the ATL) has had me dig up a song I wrote around this time last year. For one semester, I worked with a doctoral student who was writing her dissertation on music therapy and weight loss in elementary school students. One of the goals of the practicum was to teach the students about nutrition.

For this, I wrote a song that described the digestive system and how the food you eat travels through your body. The thing that made it successful was the fact that I "piggy-backed" a popular song. This is a lesson that you can take with you into any practicum, internship, or job. If ever you are writing songs for a session or facilitating a songwriting activity, it is very effective to write lyrics using a well-known melody. In this case, the popular song was "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

I'm feeling sentimental...

I'm amazed that I have just 3 weeks left of my internship. It will be difficult to move on because I've had such great experiences at the BHC. I am so thankful to my supervisor and the staff, all of which felt more like family than coworkers. I have met great people-patients included-that I look forward to seeing everyday. Spending hours a day with them will be what I miss most about my internship. The lessons I have learned will stay with me throughout life. I am truly grateful.