Music Therapy

Complexities, Difficulties, and Dissonances

March 2, 2021
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I was today-minus-3-days years old when I first heard about the Disability Day of Mourning. This is a day for remembering the victims of filicide, specifically victims who were people with disabilities. It started in 2012 and is held annually on March 1st. I’m grateful to music therapist Jessica Leza for my introduction to this […]

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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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Music and Musicking

August 7, 2018
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I have a confession: I am not a fan of the word “musicking.” Not only is it a silly-sounding word to me, but you can’t even find it in Merriam-Webster. (Okay, technically it’s described as the “present participle of music,” meaning it’s the ongoing action of the thing called “music.” But unlike other present participles […]

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#MTAdvocacy and Finding My Advocacy Song

January 11, 2018
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It’s January! Know what that means…? Time for the annual Music Therapy Social Media Advocacy month! I have had the distinct pleasure of helping to coordinate this project since its inception in 2012. Whereas in year’s past we invited music therapy bloggers and podcasters to talk about advocacy, this year we’re structuring the project differently […]

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What does Geography have to do with Song Preference?

October 11, 2017
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I was recently inspired by an episode of the Revisionist History podcast to explore musical characteristics associated with “sad” music. This particular episode stimulated some other thoughts as well, in particular the role of geography and song preference. Where does this come from? In the podcast episode, host Malcolm Gladwell explored characteristics associated with specific […]

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World Congress-bound: A Preview

July 2, 2017
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I blog this morning from a hotel room outside the LAX airport. In 6 hours I’ll be on a flight again and, should all go smoothly, in 17 hours will be touching down at Narita airport in Tokyo. From there I make the hourlong bus ride north to Tsukuba, Japan to attend the 15th World Congress […]

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A Landmark Week for Music Therapy Awareness

June 21, 2017
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The week of the 2017 Memorial Day holiday will go down as a landmark week for the music therapy profession in the United States. Let’s start at the end… Through a partnership between the Kennedy Center and the National Institutes for Health (NIH), music therapy was on full display during the June 2-3 “Sound Health: […]

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Advocacy at All Levels

January 30, 2017
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Women’s marches Immigration policy protests Tax day marches We have seen a wave of protest activity over the past few months. Though these public demonstrations are focused on objections, and thus inherently carry with them a negative association, they can also be perceived as large-scale advocacy efforts. Advocacy for the protection of rights, safety, health, […]

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#MTAdvocacy 2017: Your Guide to Zen Advocacy

January 4, 2017
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It’s January! Which means it’s not only time for resolutions, but also time for the annual music therapy social media advocacy month! Advocacy is not always easy, and it takes a certain amount of determination and persistence to see it through. This year’s theme centers on helping us maintain some semblance of sanity during the […]

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