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.

Friday Five: Art Therapy Blogs

I know, I know... what are we doing talking about art therapy in a music therapy blog??

I have been lucky to work with some art therapists and art therapy interns during my time here at the BHC. I really should have made a post regarding art therapy much sooner, because it is a very cool thing to collaborate with art therapists in session. Even without an art therapist to collaborate with, there is much we can learn from the field. Today's Friday Five is a list of top-rated blogs that pertain to the art therapy world. Art therapy is very different from music therapy, but I challenge you to learn from these sites and incorporate some art therapy techniques in your session while still using music. For some clients, the therapeudic value can be greatly increased after putting time into creating something tangible.

1. The Healing Arts
2. Creative Everyday
3. Adventures in Art Therapy
4. Turning Turning
5. Paint Cut Paste

For more top art therapy blogs, visit this website.

Missing Costume Game

I was recently asked to plan a music session for a child's birthday party (the many shoes we wear as MTs, right?). This is a child I know well, diagnosed with autism, cerebal palsy, and epilepsy. Many of his friends are also on the autism spectrum. This is one of the many activities we did, perfect for use in special education and adaptable to other populations as well.

Being that it is the same month of Halloween, I prepared a Halloween-themed game for kids. It takes a small amount of time to prepare.

To begin, I got a thick, sturdy board (the foam posterboards work well). I used a few websites (listed below) to make several cards of costumes. To see and use what I made, click this sentence. I used small velcro pieces to attach the cards to the board so that they can be easily removed.

To begin the game, show each costume card one at a time to the kids and talk about what it is. Stick it on the board as you introduce each card. When all the cards are on the board, tell them, "Get a good look at what is on this board..."

Then turn the board toward you (so that no kid can see it) and remove one costume while you sing:

To the tune of "Frère Jacques"
What is missing, what is missing?
Can you see? Can you see?
We're missing a costume, we're missing a costume
Please help me, please help me.

Turn the board around and have the kids figure out which costume you took away. Return the missing card to the board and play again.

With a little more effort, this game can be used all year round using colors, animals, numbers, other holiday themes, etc.!

The websites I used in making the costume cards:
http://www.jupiterimages.com
http://www.picnik.com

CALLING ALL MT BLOGGERS!

If you have a music therapy blog, I want to post a link! Please, if you would like to share, leave a comment somewhere where I will see it. Leave a comment here on the blog, write a note on Facebook, or message me on Twitter.

Thank you!