I am so thrilled to have had the opportunity by the featured guest for a Music Therapy Ed VIP Party! I feel WAY too young to be considered a “leader” in the music therapy community and have to opportunity to talk about my experience and what has become my area of “expertise”. This opportunity comes at the perfect time, especially with all of the changes that have been going on at On A Good Note. The practice is growing significantly as we ramp up for the 2-year business anniversary. In some ways it feels like it’s been a lot longer while in other ways it feels as though we have only begun! I have mentioned Music Therapy Ed before, but wanted to take another opportunity to share their link with you. Music Therapy Ed has truly helped my business grow. Their courses on creating a website, recording music, marketing, iPad apps, etc., have been some of the building blocks for my current practice. I love being one of their VIP members and am thrilled to continue learning from the content Read More
Category: Music Therapy
Vlog – Songs and Tips for Music Therapy with Spanish Speaking Clients
I am so excited to share my first vlog today! I had so much fun recording this that there will definitely be another one at some point soon! All week, I have been sharing ideas on the blog (www.onagoodnote.net/blog) on how to successfully incorporate Spanish into your music therapy session when you don’t speak the language. In this (first) vlog post I share a couple tips and two simple songs you can use in your music therapy sessions! Read More
7 Quick Tips for Successfully Working Around a Language Barrier
Working in a setting with a diverse population has it’s challenges, especially when there is a language barrier! I work in a children’s hospital where some of my clients are non-English speakers, but that doesn’t stop me from providing services! Often people will even recommend music therapy over other modalities because music is universal and doesn’t necessarily require a whole lot of words! Where words fail, music speaks. -Hans Christian Andersen Here are some 7 quick tips for working around a language barrier! 1. Keep it simple – Keep your intervention simple so they don’t require a lot of explanation. Let the music do the work instead of the words. 2. Learn the basics – Working in an area where Spanish is prevalent? Learn to say hello, how are you, music, goodbye, and some of the other basics you know you will need! (stay tuned we will cover this more in an upcoming post!) 3. Let them know – Don’t pretend to know what your client Read More
Tap the Bells with Your Toes!
Every so often, my session plans don’t work out the way I planned. As I mentioned in one of my MT advocacy posts, you cannot always predict how a client is feeling or how they are going to act on any given day, so you must remain flexible! This next intervention came out of one of those flexible moments, creating an intervention on the spot to meet my client’s needs while still challenging them. I could not have been more excited about the results. This is our second time doing this intervention, as it worked out so splendidly the first time! One of the large goals I am working on with this particular client is gross motor functioning. We are working on maintaining balance, increasing individual leg movement, and increasing core strength. Here is the intervention: First, I placed the case of desk bells on the floor and asked the client to open it. This requires him to use those fine motor skills to unzip the bag. I then ask him to pick up a specific color of bell (working Read More
Resolution Check-In
At the beginning of the year, I made a post with some of my New Year’s Resolutions. I outlined my hopes and dreams for the coming year as well as some specific goals I wanted to accomplish. While it is all good and well to make those goals, sometimes a check-in is needed. Though I didn’t post many specific things on the blog, I definitely journaled about them. This check-in is prompted by two amazing visits I had over the past couple days. Because of my location, travel, and busy schedule, I often go MONTHS without talking to another music therapist, especially about my practice or myself. On Friday, I had the opportunity to talk business strategy with Kat Fulton and today I had the pleasure of sitting down for coffee with Rachel Rambach. Both are amazing and inspirational people, especially in the world of music therapy. If you haven’t checked them out, I highly recommend doing so! They got me thinking about my goals and what I have on my agenda. My original goals were growth, balance, and sustainability Read More