Songwriting, Ethics, and other topics

Today I'm going to talk about some successes I've had with a few clients this week, some motivation issues and solutions, and the new Ethics requirement for continuing education for music therapists.

I had a client who wanted to write a song about one of his hobbies this week, so I'll describe the process I used and how I challenged myself to use the piano more in therapy. Piano is not my major instrument and I experienced "piano trauma" in college. So this was a big challenge.

I saw another client this week who was stumbling through spelling a word, so I wrote another song on the spot to help with that task. I'll sing a little for you and let you know how that turned out.

In the third segment, I took a distance-learning Ethics course that fulfills the CBMT requirement for Ethics credits. I'll give a review of the course.

As always, you can listen LIVE at 12 Noon Eastern, 11 AM Central, 10 AM Mountain, 9 AM Pacific. Or you can find the show archives here, or subscribe on iTunes.

January 7, 2011 - Music Therapy Advocacy

Happy New Year! I hope your New Year's Resolutions are off to a good start. I also hope that one of them is to advocate for music therapy! On today's show, my guests are Judy Simpson and Kimberly Sena Moore who, along with Dena Register, work on the State Recognition Operational Plan. Through this Plan, a national initiative being implemented jointly by CBMT and AMTA, Judy, Dena, and Kimberly provide guidance and technical support to State task forces as they work to obtain State recognition of music therapy and the MT-BC credential.

Learn how YOU can help music therapy gain State recognition and create greater access to music therapy for members of your community. Listen live at 12 noon EST, 11 am CST, 10 am MST, 9 am PST or listen to the archives or subscribe via iTunes.

Judy Simpson is the Director of Government Relations for the American Music Therapy Association. She can be reached at simpson@musictherapy.org

Dr. Dena Register is the Regulatory Affairs Advisor for the Certification Board for Music Therapists and an Associate Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Kansas. She can be reached at dregister@cbmt.org

Kimberly Sena Moore is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and Neurologic Music Therapist. She serves as Regulatory Affairs Associate for the Certification Board for Music Therapists, practices music therapy through Neurosong Music Therapy Services, and runs the blog Music Therapy Maven.