As a business owner, I have made a commitment to serve everyone who needs my services. What economic or societal structures prevent people from seeking my services? Are there inequities that I can address? As a music therapist, I recognize that music has the potential to harm as well as to heal. What songs in my repertoire have a racist history? Is it enough to simply change a word or two? What personal biases may prevent me from providing appropriate therapeutic presenc

A colleague shared the phrase “grace, grief, and gratitude” as a coping mechanism. We’ve all been impacted in some way by the events of the last few months. This in turn can affect our physical and mental health. We might be struggling with sleep disturbances, low energy and mood, difficulty concentrating, etc. This is a normal response to the upheavals in routines, schedule, and possibly our employment. It is especially important to modify our expectations for ourselves

I recently went through a short bout of back pain. One of the areas we commonly address as music therapists is pain. I’m going to share what I learned. Pain is exhausting. I was never incapacitated but needed to be careful about everything I did. Pain disrupted my sleep and complicated several of my Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Non-pharmacological methods of pain relief work (to a point) but require a lot of effort. It also helps if you already have a meditation/ima

Have you ever been in the band room before rehearsal starts and there’s a marvelous cacophony of dozens of musicians warming up and noodling all at the same time? Or have you been in a drum circle where one or two of the drummers are pursuing their own groove and are out of step with the group. Communal music making and improvisation can be a unifying experience when we let go of our ego, our preconceived notions, and listen. Right now, our world is in discord. I am tryin