Many of us have had less-than-ideal experiences working for other music therapists, and we’re here to spill the tea. A few of my music therapy colleagues and I got together to talk about it. This conversation is real, raw, and oh so honest.

How the heck do we take time off???? This is such a difficulty thing for the music therapist (talking from experience!), especially the new professional. Let’s get to the heart of the matter in this blog with an accompanying podcast episode and a follow-up reference guide that you can download for free.

Ins and outs of music therapy program development. What does it take to make a program happen? What are the most important things when you’re starting to talk with an agency? We talk about all of this and more in this podcast episode (linked in the blog).

As a music therapist, I often think about music as wellness. Here's a little thing I wrote up when asked by a Nazareth College student to add my thoughts to their project. Enjoy!

Today marks 4 years of KBMT, my music therapy business. I find it so fitting that I started this thing on Earth Day! What an honor to share with the earth the sound that heals and the kinship of strangers.

It’s hard to start out as a new professional. It’s even harder to feel like you’re so alone. Here’s a little bit about starting out as a music therapist, what I hope to see, and what I’m doing about it.

Today we’re talking about deductions on our taxes from all the various expenses we, music therapists, have. To put this in easier terms, what things can we write off at the end of the year when we file our taxes? The things we buy (the money we spend) for our music therapy business will balance out with the income we bring in (money we make).

I’m not here to listen to debates about taxes. I’m just here to offer my wisdom after failing and slowly succeeding at business and filing taxes. I’ve had to pay thousands of dollars back to the IRS, and to answer the H&R Block guy who “helped” us that year… yes, I was surprised. I was naive, I didn’t know any better. No one taught me that I could be a business owner without feeling like a business owner. No one prepared me to file my own taxes and track my income, expenses, and mileage. So here I am, doing my small part on the internet to help out a fellow music therapist or small business owner so you don’t get screwed over (fault of my own) like I did.

Read the blog about Taxes & 4 things that make them easier

This post is full of steps that you can take if there is no music therapy job near you. We are creative professionals, and we can creatively do something about that! Let’s walk together through some options and ideas for starting something new in your area.

I just moved and have been taking in how different this new place is. The good, the bad, and everything in between… and the little things that I’m falling in love with. Sometimes it takes a change, a transition, to give us that fresh perspective we need to motivate our work and keep on going. We may need another person’s eyes to help us see the little things we’re missing. Having a new view can give you just the shift you need to enliven your work or life.

This is a how-to post on creating a vision board for the new year. I share my tips and extras from years of enjoying paper crafting. Hope you find this helping if you’re putting together a board for your dreams and goals for 2021!

Just some thoughts on singing and what I’ve sung over time.

It’s important to talk about grief, and two music therapists are starting the conversation.

Seasons of Resilience is for anyone who goes through challenges, difficulties, and loss but recognizes that life is lived in seasons. We’ll engage in comfortable and uncomfortable conversations, we’ll share about the good and bad, the ups and downs, just how life is. To everything, there is a season and a time for every emotion that is experienced. Enjoy these stories of resilience.

I held her heart,

Her soul in my arms.

The embrace was the face

Of reality.

On the second day of the plan in the book How To Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price, we were asked to write a letter to our future selves. What do we hope to feel and experience after we’ve gone through the process of breaking up with our phones? Here’s my letter.

As a music therapist, I learn a lot of music. Songs from any decade, any genre, any style are requested in sessions, and that music informs the work we do together. It may be analyzing the lyrics, rewriting them, or processing through them. The songs suggested have something to say about that person’s life, culture, and faith. And what I’ve learned over the years that I’ve been a music therapist is to not judge a song by itself.

Music therapy combines the elements of music with the elements of therapy. It helps people with their wellness and assists in recovery with musical interventions provided by a trained and certified music therapist. I have loved the work I’ve done as a music therapist, and I hope to continue for a long time.

I know, I know. I shouldn’t pick favorites. I try to uphold each individual to the same level and value all of my experiences equally, but sometimes you can’t help having more of an affinity to one situation/person over another. So, I want to tell you about a “favorite” patient of mine. It is more a favorite string of sessions or a favorite response to music therapy. It is a favorite way of conducting a session, or rather, a patient who challenged me to utilize music in a different way than I had ever done before.

Using the flute in music therapy, I’ve seen many people in pain either fall asleep or have their pain considerably reduced (no pills or medical intervention!). I’ve also seen people share meaningful memories and more easily express thoughts and emotions.

I have this ongoing, never-ending list and someone somewhere once promised me that it would somehow magically get organized and miraculously get to a place where there’s nothing on the list. That world does not exist. I’m so sorry to say it out loud to you and me. The perfect to-do list situation where there’s a day when it gets to zero is a myth, and we have to internalize that at some point.

Besides my existential dilemma with the to-do list and my brain’s constant energy organizing all the things, I tried something new.