What's Music Therapy?

I get that question all of the time. I never mind answering it though. It's always a great way for me to share my wonderful profession.

I talked about music therapy a couple of weeks ago and gave the official definition in this post. I also talked about why I became a music therapist here.

But today I will share a little more about it. I will start with a great video called The Healing Power of Music that PBS had on in February. I used this video when I spoke to a group of pharmacy students at Purdue recently about music therapy. It is very interesting and illustrates quite nicely, many things about my profession. There are some session clips that are really great too. There is a longer version of this clip on the PBS website if you are interested. Take a look.

Music Therapist's Education:

Music therapists hold at least a bachelor's degree in music therapy. We can go through the doctorate level. There are over 70 universities and colleges in the US who have programs approved by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). I did my training at the University of Iowa - one of the best:)

In addition to our music classes, we take classes pertaining to working with different populations such as older adults, special education, early childhood, abnormal psych, etc. Of course we have to be proficient in playing instruments such as guitar, piano, voice, basic drumming..

 We also go into the community and do at least three semesters in a practicum or field work setting under the supervision of a board-certified music therapist. I really loved my practicum experiences. My first was in an inpatient psychiatric facility. The second was with three boys who have autism in a special ed classroom. The last was with adults who have developmental disabilities in a group home setting. I was also volunteering with the Sound Reach choir, which is a choir for adults with developmental disabilities, and is run through West Music. My experiences with people with DD confirmed my choice to look for an internship working with that population.

After our coursework is complete, we go on to do a 6-month clinical internship. There are many of these all around the country, focusing on different populations. I did mine at a state-run developmental center in southern California. It was a good experience and I got to work with several different people there with various degrees of developmental disabilities. When a job opened at the end of my internship, I applied and was hired. I worked there for 3 years on a behavior adjustment unit where approximately 25 men with autism and severe/profound mental retardation who had a lot of maladaptive behaviors lived. I LOVED my clients there and miss them very much. Every day was an adventure. :)

After internship, music therapists sit for the board exam given by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. (CBMT). Once we are board certified, we hold the credential MT-BC, which is something to look for if you are seeking music therapy services. It is a 5-year credential that is renewable through continuing education or by retaking the board exam. But I am not sure why anyone would want to retake the board exam! Going to conferences and continually studying our profession is so much more fun:)

Where do music therapists work and who do they work with?

 Basically anywhere you find healthcare. We use music to reach a non-musical goal. Music therapists work in hospitals, psychiatric facilities, schools, nursing homes, hospice, rehab facilities, private practice and the list goes on. We work with people with various disabilities or illnesses such as Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, kids and adults with developmental disabilities, autism, stroke, Parkinson's Disease, brain injury, people with psychiatric illnesses and again the list goes on. You may be familiar with congresswomen Gabriel Giffords, who received music therapy treatment after being shot in the head last year. She is featured in the PBS video above and is recovering well.

So I think that gives you another good piece of info about music therapy and the education a music therapist has. I hope it was interesting and perhaps useful to young students considering music therapy as a career.

Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day!

Rebecca

My Story - Music Therapy

I told you last week how excited I was when I returned from the Midwest Regional conference of the American Music Therapy Association in Iowa. I also promised more info about music therapy. So I thought I would start with my story. Why I chose music therapy as a career. How I discovered music therapy. Why I can't see myself NOT being a music therapist.

When I was in high school, I was involved in any and every music group that I could be in. I loved playing my flute and piccolo in bands, orchestras, contests, etc. I was in groups that played in Europe, Carnegie Hall, the National Flute Conventions, etc. I loved it. So it was natural for me to study music in college. I thought my choices were music performance or music education. I never saw myself as a band director, so I went the performance route. I studied flute performance at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, which was an hour from my home. 

I loved it there. I loved my classes, my professors, the music experience. It was all great. But there was always that voice in the back of my mind that wasn't completely convinced that I wanted to continue to spend 4-6 hours alone in a little practice room the rest of my life, perfecting my skills. Performing was very self-gratifying. But I always wondered if there was something else that I could do with my talent that would give back in different ways.

I started to get a little burned out of the whole practice and performing thing around my junior year at UWW. I was practicing less, and then feeling guilty about it. I wasn't content. It was around that time, that another friend in the flute studio told me about music therapy. I was intrigued. She didn't have a lot of info for me but did explain that music therapy uses music in healthcare. How cool! So I started digging around as much as I could. This was in the late 90s and the internet wasn't too accessible yet. I was intrigued enough though, to make the decision to apply to graduate schools that had both a good flute program (something I was always planning to do) but also some sort of music therapy program. I ended up at the University of Iowa, which as you probably read from my above post about my MT conference, that it was the BEST choice for so many reasons!! (and the MT program there is one of the best in the country, which I didn't know at the time!)

When I arrived in Iowa City in 1999, I was nervous. I was accepted into a competitive flute program with an awesome flute professor, Tadeu Coelho. Tadeu will tell you himself how demanding he was on his students. Don't get me wrong, he was a lot of fun too. We all enjoyed being a part of his studio and learned so much from him. But the expectations and the requirements were quite high, leaving no time for me to explore music therapy. So the first year of my masters program, I didn't. 

And then a light flickered....

Tadeu sent the flute studio an email just as my second year was beginning. Apparently some of the flute students (not me, but I was thankful that this happened!) told Tadeu that his requirements were too much. ( a solo recital every semester, among other things) He thought about it and decided to make some requirements optional! I couldn't believe it. I ran into my friend and fellow flute player, Kimberly Sena-Moore, in the music listening library that day. I will never forget that conversation. Kimberly was also studying music therapy. That was the primary reason she was in Iowa. So I picked her brain about the program. She was the reason I decided to go to talk to Dr. Kate Gfeller, one of the MT professors.

I started taking MT classes that week. I had missed the first couple, but that was ok. I will never forget my very first music therapy class with Dr. Gfeller. It was Intro to Music Therapy and she was showing a video of a music therapist working with an older adult group in a nursing home. My jaw must have been on the floor the entire time I was watching. I had never seen anything like that and I was amazed at how the therapist used music to get the positive responses she did from the group. They were smiling, singing, doing movement/exercise! It was SO cool, I thought! "I want to do that!!!"

The light bulb went on that day for MT and it has never dimmed. 

I went on to finish my masters in flute. I was half way done, after all. But also went full force into my music therapy classes and absolutely loved it. I completed the equivalency degree in music therapy two years later and then went onto my 6-month clinical internship in California, working with people with developmental disabilities at a state-run developmental center. I will talk more about some of that in a future post.

So there you have it! My music therapy beginnings. I hope this post has been interesting and perhaps helpful to other students considering a music therapy career. You can learn more about the profession on the American Music Therapy Association website 

and on the Certification Board of Music Therapists website.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!!

Rebecca

Music Therapy! and a visit to Iowa City!

University of Iowa professors (Dr. Gfeller and Dr. Adamek up front), alumni and students

I am so fired up! I just got back from a terrific and extremely energizing Music Therapy conference in Iowa City, Iowa! And had the BEST time!! Many of you know that I am a board-certified music therapist. But do you know what that means? I get the question "what is music therapy" a LOT! I never get tired of answering it though. It's a way for me to share what I do and get the word out about music therapy. Do you know what music therapy is?

- Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. - from the American Music Therapy Association website

One of my former professors, Dr. Adamek, at the U of Iowa lunch, getting everyone ready for the Univ. of Iowa picture (above) which I am pretty sure is her favorite event of conference. :)

My original intent for jumping ship from my own Great Lakes regional conference in Michigan this weekend, was to re-visit my graduate school, the University of Iowa, and to reconnect with lots of old friends in the Midwest Conference of the American Music Therapy Association. I did those things. But I also got so much more from the conference then I had expected. The sessions that I went to were really great and inspiring. I learned a lot and it got my thoughts turning more about professional advocacy, which was the theme of the conference. I was also able to present with my friend Elisabeth, about business and being in private practice. That was a ton of fun!

To avoid making this the longest blog post EVER, I will close with some pictures from my weekend with my family. Stay tuned for more regular posts about music therapy, what it is exactly, why I chose it as my profession, and why I LOVE being a music therapist! :)

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

I remembered one of the reasons I loved living in Iowa City - there is real weather there! (totally missed that when we lived in southern california. We get some weather where we are in Indiana, but really nothing like  in IC)  It rained and stormed the first and last day we were there. Here is my husband and boys as we strolled down the ped mall. The rain didn't keep us inside and let up enough for us to take our walk down memory lane.

 

One of my favorite parts of Iowa City and also from our visit, was being at the Newman Center. So much happened to me there - I found my faith and became confirmed. I grew stronger in my faith and was asked to be on the retreat team and was also asked to lead the retreat team the following semester! and because of the retreat, I met my wonderful husband, David!! We revisited Iowa City for our friend's wedding a year after moving from there and David proposed to me at the Newman Center. So yeah, it is a pretty special place....:) The above picture is with Fr. Ed. He is completely awesome and the priest who confirmed me. We were so blessed to celebrate Mass with him on Sunday right before my presentation.

From church to the bar! lol. David and I first met at church when he came up to ask me about the retreat I had just given an announcement about at mass.  I didn't see him again however, for 3 months when we ran into each other shooting pool here at Brothers! (I was a bit of a pool addict in college. lol)  It was the last day of the semester. We recognized each other and started talking.......the rest is history, as they say:)

And onto our first date at the Brown Bottle. Well, it wasn't our first official date. That happened at the Bread Garden, which is now a Yoga Studio!  so we went to lunch at the Brown Bottle instead.

The food was so yummy!!

The old capitol. Have I mentioned that I love Iowa City?? :)

I am excited to share more about music therapy on future posts. But my question to you is - what do you already know about music therapy, if anything? What do you want to know?

Thanks for reading and have a terrific week!

Rebecca