American Music Therapy Association, Inc.
8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1000
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA
Phone: (301) 589-3300
Fax: (301) 589-5175
E-mail: info@musictherapy.org

This AMTA Members Only Benefit Continues in 2010

Click here to enter AMTA.pro

Learn techniques, strategies, interventions, and insider tips from your professional colleagues sharing their expertise from the trenches. AMTA.Pro is an on-line symposium with podcasts featuring experienced music therapists sharing one aspect of their practice. The targeted audio discussions, accompanied by a wealth of text resources, are designed to help music therapists sharpen their knowledge and skills efficiently.

AMTA regions, state MT groups, MT clinics, agencies with music therapists on staff, universities, clinical sites, and other organizations can sponsor an AMTA.Pro Symposium featuring a speaker, a non-commercial topic of interest to AMTA members, and 2010 launch date of their choosing – within reasonable guidelines and with assistance from Cathy Knoll and Dwight Knoll as needed. AMTA.Pro symposium sponsor fee is just $500.00. Send e-mail to brainstorm and learn details via amtapro@musictherapy.org or to CathyKnoll@gmail.com.

Anne B. Parker, MA, MHSA, MT-BC, FAMI is the Supervisor of the Wellness Department at Miraval Resort, Tucson, AZ – an internationally renowned wellness and health resort. After over 15 years of professional experience in general, psychiatric, and rehabilitation hospitals, Anne has focused the last 15 year of her professional work in a wellness model working with applications of music therapy with clients undergoing cancer treatment, dealing with chronic illness including stress disorders, as well as mental health issues, and life transitions of all kinds. In this podcast, Anne presents a wellness model and its integration with music therapy, particularly drawing from theoretical approaches and research in the areas of mindfulness and positive psychology.

Marcia J. Lajoie, MM, MT-BC is a music therapist and music educator at Massachusetts Hospital School serving children age 7-22 with multiple disabilities. Beyond holding traditional music therapy groups and individual sessions, she has formed a relationship with the Hospital School’s Pain Management Team to offer alternative strategies for patients. This AMTA.Pro Symposium begins with an informal conversation with Pain Management Team members talking about the evolution of the group. The symposium continues with an excerpt from an actual session illustrating the collaboration between professionals with guided meditation storytelling accompanied by improvised music. Following the brief session excerpt, music therapist Marcia Lajoie shares some observations from that session and about the therapeutic collaboration.

The William W. Sears Distinguished Lecturer at the annual AMTA conference in San Diego in November, 2009 was Aniruddh Patel, PhD. The William Sears Memorial Fund was established in memory of a National Association for Music Therapy leader whose membership dated back to the Association’s formative years in the early 1950s. The mission of the Sears Memorial Fund is to advance the knowledge of music therapy through distinguished speakers who are authorities in a field of interest to music therapy. This AMTA.Pro Symposium, a benefit exclusively for AMTA members, features “Building Bridges Between Music Neuroscience and Music Therapy,” Dr. Patel’s Sears Lecture at the 2009 AMTA annual conference  You may click to listen to the audio podcast or click to watch the vodcast of the 2009 Sears Lecture.

Barbara J. Crowe, MMT, MT-BC, Director of Music Therapy at Arizona State University, has had a long-term interest in music therapy theory and the other uses of sound and music for health and healing. In this AMTA.Pro Symposium, Barbara provides an overview of some of the many sound healing practices and addresses their relationship to music therapy. She also provides guidance about  working collaboratively and positively with individuals from some of these other disciplines.

Michael J. Silverman, PhD, MT-BC, director of music therapy at the University of Minnesota, is a member of the research staff at the University’s Medical Center where he provides clinical services and conducts research. In this AMTA Symposium, he talks about interventions he utilizes in acute care psychiatric settings.

John Abel, MPH, MT-BC serves as both music therapist and rehab therapy supervisor at Wesley Woods Hospital of Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia. In this acute care geriatric rehab hospital, John conducts group and individual music therapy sessions with individuals experiencing a variety of physical, emotional and cognitive challenges, and he supervises other therapists, rehabilitation techs, and administrative staff. In this AMTA.Pro Symposium, John describes the development of a successful partnership between the music therapist and the wound care staff at the hospital. Click to listen to the podcast, and check out the short video description of this program below the outline.

Bridget Doak, Ph.D, MT-BC, has 25 years clinical experience in music therapy and has been an adjunct instructor of music therapy at Augsburg College for 14 years. This AMTA.Pro Symposium focuses on her experience providing music therapy for adolescents in crisis who are clients in an inpatient mental health program located in a large general hospital.

This AMTA.Pro LiveReport is from the Southwestern AMTA regional conference in Amarillo, Texas in March, 2010. You can hear the sounds of the conference in the background as several dozen music therapy professionals and students share brief, informal comments during the conference while zipping from session to session, building their skills and sharpening their expertise in the vital, growing field of music therapy.

Betsey King, an assistant professor at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, has extensive experience in music therapy practice and research related to speech and language rehab. This AMTA.Pro Symposium focuses on music therapy applications addressing challenges encountered in speech and language therapy, especially the unique characteristics of aphasia, apraxia, and dysarthria.

Christine Stevens is an author, speaker and music therapist.. She has developed music therapy programs using drumming for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, Ground Zero, and Columbine High School. Most recently, Christine led the first drum circle training in a war-zone in northern Iraq.  Through Remo’s HealthRHYTHMS and her company, UpBeat Drum Circles, Christine leads training programs in how to facilitate group empowerment drumming.  She is the author of The Healing Drum Kit and The Art and Heart of Drum Circles.

AMTA.Pro LiveReport is a series of podcasts featuring ideas, comments, and opinions from music therapists attending the 2009 conference of the American Music Therapy Association in San Diego, California.

• #1: This first LiveReport includes short conversations with Andrew Knight, Louise Steele, and Kristen Sena, and closes with a Daughters of Harriet chant by five music therapists.
• #2: Listen to Jodi Levine talking about the rewards of working with older people, and to hear Janice Harris telling of the perils of mixing handbells with a frustrated non-verbal person. This LiveReport segment ends with compelling insights from Kathy Lorenzato’s work at a pediatric hospital. 
• #3: Comments and insights from our music therapy colleagues, Melissa Keys Wagner, Robin Rio, Lisa Jackert, Allegra Themmen, and Kimberly Sena Moore.
• #4: The final edition of 2009 LiveReports features interesting thoughts from music therapy professionals Rachelle Norman, Susan Miller, and  Jennifer Jones. This series closes with a clever Goodbye Song composed by our music therapy colleague, Joe Pinson, based on input from one of his clients who was rather obsessed in languages.

Sarah Johnson is a music therapist at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. Sarah Thompson, MM, MT-BC, NMT Fellow, is the music therapist and owner of Rehabilitative Rhythms in Denver, Colorado. In this AMTA.Pro symposium, Johnson and Thompson discuss the role of music therapy in the continuum of care in stroke rehabilitation from the perspective of in-patient and out-patient services. They walk through the process, beginning with initial assessment, and moving through treatment and discharge, following the progress of a 60-year-old stroke patient.

Board certified music therapist Gloria McDaniel has 27 years experience in a large metropolitan school district near Houston, Texas, working with students from 3 to 21 years old with a wide variety of abilities and exceptionalities. In this AMTA.Pro symposium, Gloria discusses the necessity of intense detective work in music therapy, watching for subtle clues that help therapists discern the needs of individuals and develop effective strategies and interventions to meet those unique needs. Gloria also talks about the need to sniff out evidence and follow leads to develop new music therapy positions or to expand programs. Her persistent detective work helped launch the music therapy program in her school district in 1982 and has lead to the expansion of that program this fall in spite of economic restraints.

Annie Heiderscheit has nearly 20 years of clinical music therapy experience. She is on the graduate faculty at the University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing , and maintains a private music therapy practice employing five music therapists providing services to a variety of healthcare settings. In this AMTA.Pro symposium, Annie shares her insights and experiences  as a clinical music therapist at The Emily Program, an outpatient eating disorder treatment program, where she provides music therapy in the residential, intensive and outpatient settings.

Larisa McHugh, MA, MT-BC is Music Therapist and Internship Director at Bethany Village, a continuing care retirement community in Dayton, Ohio. In this AMTA.pro symposium, she describes effective music therapy interventions and methods for fostering meaningful relationships with individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia living in memory supported care. She also shares some compelling stories highlighting the impact of music therapy on the quality of life of her friends in the Memory Support Center

Michele Erich is a board certified music therapist and certified child life specialist with twenty years experience in the field. In this AMTA.Pro symposium, she shares valuable information gained from twelve years on the staff of the Healing Arts Network, an integrative therapy program at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. Symposium topics include:

I. Descriptions of effective music therapy interventions in four medical settings: pediatric procedural support, cancer center, adult intensive care unit, and palliative care.

II. Details about successful strategies for creating music therapy programs in hospitals: (1) network, (2) sell the concept to administrators, staff, and customers, (3) scout out creative funding options, and (4) take systematic steps to sustain the program.

Mary Morreale, a board-certified music therapist shares some basic principles of facilitating groups of adults that have proven successful in her practice over the years. The audio discussion of this AMTA.Pro symposium covers these topics:

I. Know your leadership style and skills.
II. Know your group.
III. Know your material.
IV. Know your plan.
V. An example from the field.

AMTA at Your Service - On the behalf of AMTA, Executive Director Andi Farbman welcomes AMTA members to the Special Edition of AMTA.Pro Symposium series. The purpose of the Job Solutions symposium and other AMTA resources is to provide members with cutting-edge, timely advice and assistance during challenging times. Andi describes a wealth of resources in this audio discussion.

Real Life Examples of Meeting Challenges Head-On - Almost twenty years ago, Amber Weldon-Stephens established a successful music therapy program in a large school-district with ten music therapists on staff and a long-standing music therapy internship. Suddenly, that program faces significant cuts in staff and services. And Amber’s interns find themselves looking at an uncertain future. Amber takes just 8 minutes to describe some specific steps she is taking to meet these challenges head-on rather than buckling under the cuts.

Moving Forward in Good Times and Bad - In this 13-minute conversation, Cathy Knoll shares six specific strategies for a successful career, no matter the circumstances. The recommended pro-active steps emerged from Cathy’s bumpy 40-year journey as a music therapist.

Unemployment Lessons: VOLUNTEER - In this 3-minute conversation, Tom Dolan, Associate Director of Texas Tech University at Abilene shares unemployment lesson of volunteering.

MT-BC Speak-UP #1 - Several dozen music therapists sent e-mail messages to economy@musictherapy.org in response to a call in the AMTA eNews for input about the impact of the economy on their jobs. Let’s check in to see what some of our colleagues around the country have to say.

Unemployment Lessons: TARGETED NETWORKING - Tom Dolan, Associate Director of Texas Tech University at Abilene, takes 4 minutes to share valuable tips for targeted networking. Don’t just add names to your network. Know the decision-makers and get on their radar.

MT-BC Speak-UP #2 - Listen and learn from your fellow music therapists from around the country – some just finishing internship and others with many years of experience - who sent career status reports to economy@musictherapy.org.

Stimulating Your Own Economy - In this 9-minute conversation, Kathleen Coleman shares nine specific strategies for jump starting your own economy. These ideas were developed from her journey as a music therapist for the past 28 years.

From the AMTA Thrive Guide - In this segment of the Job Solutions special edition symposium, music therapist Barb Else shares some excerpts and thoughts from the AMTA Thrive Guide.

AMTA StudentSpeak - Cara McBurney, Krysta Davis, Klayci Peck, Lydia Pratt, and Paul Todd, music therapy students at West Texas A&M University, chat informally about the future of music therapy as a career.

Unemployment Lessons:  SUDDEN JOB LOSS - What do you do if you suddenly lose your job? Tom Dolan, associate director of Texas Tech University at Abilene, shares five steps to take immediately upon receiving your pink slip.

Resources for Music Therapists - Check out some free career-related materials for professionals, interns, and students -valuable resources proven to impact careers of music therapists and related professionals over the past decades. ALSO – a chance win a free professional study course.

AMTA’s Director of Government Relations provides helpful information about the primary sources of healthcare reimbursement and about how these sources might be used to pay for music therapy, as well as a step-by-step guide to obtaining reimbursement.

An experienced music therapist examines the challenges of managing behavior in circle time groups of young children, and outlines six tried-and-true strategies for minimizing disruptive behaviors while maximizing the benefits of group therapy.

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