This week I’m reviewing the study “Music Therapy to Regulate Arousal and Attention in Patients with Substance Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Feasibility Study” from the Journal of Music Therapy Fall 2020. This study focused on using specific music therapy interventions to treat patients with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Data indicates that patients with these co-existing disorders are harder to treat and more like

Sometimes we need a quick break without having to roll out our yoga mat or even when there is craziness going on around us. Take a moment Take a moment to be still, to breathe. Let your ribs expand and fall in. Let your breath lift your spine and your heart. Feel your feet grounded to the earth. Find your center. Let that strength flow through you and renew you. You are strong. You are loved. You can do it. Let me know how you feel!

Someone recently asked in an online music therapy group what songs they should learn for hospice. I’ll admit that I was pretty overwhelmed when I started. My guitar skills were never that great to begin with and I hadn’t played in the time I wasn’t practicing music therapy. Location and the type of hospice a music therapist might work for also makes a difference. We’re in a primarily agricultural area and the company I work for doesn’t take pediatric patients. That being said

The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) recently updated its code of ethics. It went from a more legalistic, do’s and don’ts model to an aspirational model. In other words, the new code of ethics is more about how we should try to interact in our professional dealings. Earlier this year, our clinical journal Music Therapy Perspectives focused on ethical decision making in Music Therapy. The article “Ethical Decision-Making at Intersections of Spirituality and Music