Music is a language that everyone can understand
QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSIC THERAPY
WHAT ISNT MUSIC THERAPY?
Music therapy is NOT performance, we are not interested in putting on a show for you.
Music therapy is NOT music education, we are not interested in teaching you how to be the next musical sensation.
Music therapy is NOT "playing the right notes to make heal a broken bone". Those are bards in fantasy settings. Music therapists are the real world equivalent.
SO WHAT IS MUSIC THERAPY?
Music therapy is, at its core, the use of music by a skilled professional to help reduce suffering and build skills on a physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual level. Music therapists work with a WIDE range of age groups and settings ranging from schools and hospitals to community centers, businesses, and veteran care facilities. My passion is working with adults and seniors in elder care, memory care, and hospice settings. This means I am often focused on providing quality-of-life focused care: engaging in preferred music for reminiscing or relaxation, as well as using music for pain management.
CAN ANYONE PRACTICE MUSIC THERAPY?
Although it may look like a music therapist's job is easy from an outside perspective, there is a very strict certification process to ensure reliable planning, development, and analysis of each person's unique relationships with music, the necessary steps to reach desired outcomes in sessions, and lots of research! The criteria for board certification are found here, and a defined scope of practice is found here.
WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?
The American Music Therapy Association has a website that includes detailed information on the practices and history of music therapy, links to research and music therapy specific publications, and a searchable database of board-certified music therapists.
QUESTIONS ABOUT ME
WHO ARE YOU? WHERE DO YOU FIT IN THE WORLD?
I am proudly genderqueer, mixed-race, and a Libra, and believe in both the importance of identity classifications and living in the in-betweens. I was born in Texas, raised in New Jersey, and am currently getting my Music Therapy degree in Michigan. I am the oldest of six children in a blended family, and the proud grunkle of four dogs and two cats. I sang alto all my life but am now a tenor which has been a bit of an adjustment, and I've played the French Horn on and off since 2004.
WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LIKE?
I have a music taste as eclectic as my professional philosophy. I grew up on a steady stream of show tunes, blues, and 80's metal, my first concert was Dead Can Dance, and before the pandemic I was an enthusiastic performer at various renaissance fairs throughout the North-East.
WHAT ARE YOUR PRONOUNS?
Whenever possible, I prefer to be referred to with "they/them" pronouns.
For example: "Ariel has seen Encanto 7 times already. They won't stop talking about Bruno!"
I recognize that although language is constantly changing, it can be difficult to adjust when those changes contradict previously held "golden rules" of grammar. If you are still unlearning some old habits, that's fine! Mistakes happen and everyone is learning, every single day.
The best way to learn is to repeat whatever you were trying to say with the correct pronouns, and continue on with the conversation.
For example: "Ariel learned a new song for me, his voice sounds really good! I mean, their voice sounds really good! Do you want to hear the song?"
UNCOMFORTABLE FOLLOWUP: WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE MISGENDERS YOU?
It's not a good feeling to sit with, knowing that someone else made a mistake and not knowing what to do, and not knowing what the reasoning or possible intentions behind that mistake was.
Thank you for feeling the need to speak up. The way that I prefer this to be handled is not to confront the word directly, but instead merely continue to use the correct pronoun when referring to me in the third person without additional comment.
They'll either get it or they won't.