Today, we speak with JD Hogue, a statistician and music therapist, to discuss the relevance of effective data collection as a clinician.  JD shares how effective data collection and communication is crucial for advocacy and improving your practice.

Happy fall ya’ll! The change of seasons is an opportunity for seasonally themed interventions so we’re honing in on Halloween and Harvest season. We always need to exercise our best clinical judgment on when it’s appropriate to use themed sessions. Some reasons why you might want to include themes are for reminiscence, orientation, increased engagement with novelty experiences, bringing changes to your session planning, and opportunities for introducing new and familiar music that you can’t use all year round.

Consider using a metronome if you’re going to be creating pattern sequences! Steady beat primes the brain for attention and creates the predictability for motor planning. You need a beat to synch to a steady rhythm.

In this fun clinical segment, Elizabeth discusses the benefits of and uses for boomwhackers in a music therapy session. If you’re looking for some new ideas on how to use these versatile instruments, you’re in the right place!

In his book Defining Music Therapy (1998), Kenneth Bruscia outlined 4 main methods for music therapy practice: receptive, re-creative, improvisation, and composition. Of these methods, perhaps the most overlooked is receptive. Ellisa calls on the literature, taking a closer look at clinical applications and philosophy of the receptive method within music therapy.

Ellisa sits down with Ciele Knox and Ryan Johnson, two medical music therapists, to talk about music therapy in hospitals. They touch on music therapy in the NICU, general hospital and rehabilitation center at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare in Tallahassee, FL. As a reminder, you can watch this conversation on our Youtube page, here.

Our work stresses, thoughts and worries need a container to live in so that when it's time, we can pick them up. Make a small routine of "setting it aside" as you transition home each and every day. It is as important as checking your email but a small and even non-time consuming ritual can create healthy boundaries for your work in your life that will prove deeply rewarding in time.