We’ll be having another peer group meeting for those Minneapolis and St. Paul board-certified music therapists who are interested. Our next meeting is Monday, November 25, at 7:00 PM. Please contact me directly for more information.
More peer supervision to come
We had an excellent peer supervision group meeting this evening in which I met yet another music therapist here in the Twin Cities area and most of us got to know one another a little more. I love having this opportunity to be face to face with other music therapists, as I don’t have such a chance in my regular work week.
Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 26.
Please feel free to contact me directly or find me on Twitter (@soundmattersmt) or Facebook if you’re a board-certified music therapist in the Twin Cities who would like to attend.
Upcoming peer supervision group meeting
The next peer supervision group meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 22, at 7:00 PM.
We meet to support each other anywhere we’re stuck clinically; we meet to share songs we’re using with our clients; we meet to make music together; and we meet to share ideas, resources, and thoughts on technology that we’re using.
Please feel free to contact me directly or find me on Twitter (@soundmattersmt) or Facebook if you’re a board-certified music therapist in the Twin Cities who would like to attend.
Coming together for peer supervision
We had a great group for our somewhat-monthly peer supervision meeting last night. I was fortunate to meet for the first time three new music therapists who are practicing in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, and together all seven of us improvised and shared some songs we’d been using in our clinical work. Coming up on Saturday is the Music Therapy Association of Minnesota conference, entitled “Brain Tuning: Teaching Others to Improve Attention, Memory, and Problem Solving Skills.”
Thanks to those music therapists who came out last night. I will be posting about the next peer supervision group meeting once it’s decided.
Upcoming meeting
There is a small group of music therapists in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas that meets on a (relatively) regular basis. If you happen to be a board-certified music therapist in our area and are interested in a peer supervision group, please feel free to contact me directly about joining us.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 24, at 7:00 PM. Our agenda is still yet to be entirely determined, but we each will provide five or more songs of one genre that we happen to use often; we will more than likely play whatever instruments we all decide to bring; and we will spend time catching up with what’s new in the last few weeks. 
Child Development Club
Happy new year!
We’ve been traveling in the Midwest and in New York City over the past couple of weeks. This is our first full week back at work. There really is comfort in routine.
I am taking this opportunity to guide you to a new website to which I am a contributing blogger. The site is Child Development Club, and it was created by Laura Efinger, M.A. OT/L, CEIM, who lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. I’m excited to be a part of this community as it has writers of a variety of professions (including one other music therapist) who live all over the world.
Child Development Club’s mission:
The Child Development Club was created to support parents, care providers, educators, administrators, therapists and other professionals by providing relevant child development resources. Our goal is to provide international resources that adults can utilize with children, so children can thrive and be successful in activities of daily living no matter where they live. Our goal is also to provide a resource network that students can easily access and utilize on their own.
Feel free to find my latest post here.
The More We Get Together
The four-year-olds’ church choir I co-direct had their Christmas program tonight. Parents, grandparents, and siblings were in attendance. What sweethearts. This year is my first as co-director, and I’ve had a lot of fun with these kids.
Happy holiday-time programs and celebrations to you!
November catch-up
I know I’ve been absent from my website and blogging. All I can say is, my list of daily to-dos shifted considerably for a couple of months there.
A short catch up of what’s going on at Sound Matters:
- I have a clinical supervisor with whom I Skype (when Skype works) or talk on the phone (when Skype doesn’t work) once a week. I am so happy that I have professional support when I feel stuck or confused about a situation.
- I presented to two different groups earlier this month. One was a group of college students at Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota, who gather on Wednesdays for what they call “Wellness Wednesdays.” I also presented to the Parish Visitors group at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were interested in different ways to take music to the people they visit.
- The LLC is a little over one month old now. I am still in the process of establishing insurance reimbursement ability.
- The peer support group that I head is taking a break over the holiday season and will resume in January. I look forward to seeing all of my local peers and learning about what new trainings and conferences, etc. that they’ve attended.
- The Music Therapy Association of Minnesota had its fall conference at the beginning of the month. The sessions focused on guitar and drumming techniques.
- I bought a djembe that I love dearly.
Our Thanksgiving was great, and even though it’s really hard to believe, Christmas season is upon us. We’ll see where that takes us.
Macalaster College
Thank you to Macalaster College for having me present during Wellness Wednesdays. I enjoyed the group and look forward to answering any further questions.
Limited liability company
I am so happy to announce that Sound Matters Music Therapy is now Sound Matters Music Therapy, LLC.
I look forward to all that will happen with it in the coming year.