Music Therapy Maven — The Business and Science of Music Therapy. The Life of a Music Therapist, Academic, and Career-Minded Mommy.

Mommy Monday: Rituals and the Caregiver-Child Bond

April 29, 2013

A fellow graduate music therapy student recently defended her master’s thesis. The defense itself was amazing, but what was even more amazing was her research—a heuristic, grounded theory study that explored how community-based music groups support bonding and attachment in adoptive families. Her research is worth a blog series and more . . . but, […]

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The Music Therapist as Composer?

April 25, 2013

We had a guest lecturer attend a graduate seminar on music and emotions the other week. This guest was Dr. Jim Mobberley, who serves on the composition faculty at the UMKC Conservatory. Dr. Mobberley was there to share his thoughts on music and emotion and how that influences his compositions and compositional process. He was […]

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Mommy Mondays: The Art of Being Present

April 15, 2013

I found myself at the park with my children yesterday. It was one of those perfect spring days, my favorite jeans, t-shirt, and sandal weather. And on this perfect spring day at the park with my two perfect children . . . I found myself completely preoccupied with thoughts of work. I first associated this with […]

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Highlights from GLR’s 2013 Music Therapy Conference

April 13, 2013

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the 2013 music therapy conference for the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). The GLR includes music therapists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan and is the second largest region population-wise in the US (the largest being the Mid-Atlantic […]

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Mommy Mondays: The Benefit of Out-of-Town Travel

April 2, 2013

I am in major preparations mode. Stocking up on food, cleaning the laundry, getting ahead on homework and school projects—I’m getting physically, mentally, and emotionally ready for a couple of out-of-town work trips this month. I’m excited about it, though—I love to travel! Have since I was a kid. I love the routine of getting […]

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[PsychToday] Musical Medicine and TB: A Q&A with author James Markert

March 28, 2013

I’m a history buff and a music lover . . . so when I first heard about James Markert’s latest novel, A White Wind Blew, I jumped at the opportunity to interview the author! Set in the late 1920s in TB-ridden Louisville, Kentucky, A White Wind Blew follows Wolfgang Pike, a doctor-musician-almost priest, through his […]

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Book Review: A White Wind Blew

March 21, 2013

Tuberculosis. Prohibition. Segregation. The Great War. The KKK. Faith. Musical medicine. These are many of the themes interwoven in James Markert’s latest novel, A White Wind Blew. Set in the late 1920s in TB-ridden Louisville, Kentucky, A White Wind Blew follows Wolfgang Pike, a doctor-musician-almost priest, through his journey of healing and self-discovery. Markert is […]

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Mommy Mondays: The Dark Side of Being a Working, PhD-seeking Mommy

March 19, 2013

One of the top questions I get is “how do I do it all?” I can see how, from an outside perspective, it seems like I do “do it all.” A job I love, working on a PhD, a great family, a blogging career. It may even seem like I do it easily. I feel […]

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Mommy Mondays: Pondering the Yins and Yangs of Parental Imaginings

March 13, 2013

It’s only Wednesday and I have already experienced extremes in the continuum of emotions related to being a parent. On Monday, I had a lovely conversation with a fellow music therapist who recently watched her 20-something daughter perform in a professionally-produced play. This was the yang—the excitement and wonder of envisioning the possibilities for my […]

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