Academic Journeys

Must-have Musical Skills for Student Music Therapists to Develop

October 22, 2020
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My primary responsibility in my current academic position is to train future music therapists. The vast majority of my more traditional teaching load is geared towards the preprofessional music therapist—introduction to music therapy, two music therapy methods courses, and pre-practicum, a course where students learn foundational elements of how to “do” music therapy (assessment, goals […]

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An Open Letter to My Students

August 6, 2020

Dear Student, The fall 2020 term is now upon us. The world as we know it has turned upside-down over the last six months. We are living in a pandemic and are facing difficult (and necessary) personal and societal issues sparked by the Black Lives Matters movement. Your learning experience will be different this fall, […]

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5 Lessons for my Graduate Students

August 28, 2018
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ICMPC (the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition meeting I attended in July) is most succinctly described as a music science conference. Although various fields are represented, including music psychology, music cognition, music theory, music therapy, and more, at its core it’s a science conference. And I find it fascinating to note the differences […]

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Summer Reading Challenge, Part 2: Emotion Regulation Time

August 4, 2017
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I’ve continued my personal summer quest to finish 6 books on my professional reading list. In June I shared my review of two books related primarily to autism spectrum “disorder.” The theme of topical pairing now continues with two books on emotion regulation… Review of Handbook of Emotion Regulation (2nd Ed.) Emotion regulation (ER)—and particularly […]

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Summer Reading Challenge, Part 1: Neurodiversity and Movement Differences

June 13, 2017
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Academic life makes for a busy 40 weeks. These include the 32 weeks of actual classes, meetings, defenses, and grading, along with the extra 8ish weeks of course prep and semester wrap-up. These 40 weeks leave me busy enough there’s little to no time for non-teaching related activity. (Long-time readers may have noticed my blogging […]

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Pomp and Circumstance-inspired Musings

May 13, 2017
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I am fresh off the annual academic tradition of the commencement ceremony. With its academic regalia, inspirational speeches, decorated caps, air horns, and (of course) music, this event marks a concrete moment in life when one transitions into a new role—student to professional, student back to (law/medical/grad) student, student scholar to professional academic. I enjoy […]

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10 Truths Learned as a First-Year Novice University Professor

May 11, 2015
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As of the publishing of this post, I have submitted my grades for the spring 2015 term, thus ending my first year as a full-fledged university professor. I’ve come to view my transition into professor-ship this year a bit like what it means to become a parent or be a PhD student. No one can […]

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[Guest Post] The Importance of Testing Treatments for Mental Illness Before we Sell Them

March 13, 2014
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I read an interesting exchange on a Facebook feed recently between this author, clinical psychologist and researcher Dr. Michael Anestis, and some of my music therapy friends and colleagues about the perceived state of music therapy research. The exchange, though unresolved, was enticing enough that I reached out to Michael and invited him to share […]

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Research and the Ph.D.: My Third “Child”

October 17, 2013
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I am beginning to understanding that my Ph.D. will be my third child. There’s a surprising amount of shared experiences involved in bringing a human being into this world and adding three little letters behind your name. There is the emotional, mental, and physical fatigue. Feelings of needing to push (which is biological when giving […]

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