The Music Therapy Show

Join me as I talk with Mia Maegan Morrow, the music therapist who worked with Gabrielle Giffords. She is a Senior Music Therapist and Neurologic Music Therapy Fellow at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas. Maegan Morrow graduated from Sam Houston State University and received her advanced fellowship training in Neurologic Music Therapy at the The 'Robert F. Unkefer' Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy, maintained at Colorado State University.  She is a Board Certified Music Therapist and she works at TIRR Memorial Hermann. She is also a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and has spent most of her career with the Brain Injury and Stroke population in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is also an internship supervisor on the National Roster of Internship sites under the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). She has been practicing for 10 years as a clinician. She is also a performing artist and guitar teacher. She is well known for her work with the recent patient and congresswoman at TIRR Memorial Hermann. She has been featured in the media including: Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s medical interviews on CNN, Newsweek, and on the Grammys.com. Her website is www.maeganmorrow.com where you can see her using Neurologic Music Therapy at TIRR in the media over the past year.

Board Certified music therapist Tim Ringgold is Director of Sonic Divinity, which provides music therapy services in Orange County, CA, and teaches business and success principles to new and seasoned professionals alike.  Tim serves his music therapy community as Vice President of the Western Region Chapter of the AMTA, and is a regular presenter at both regional and national conferences.  Tim has delivered no less than 16 presentations on music therapy topics since his internship at Musicworx, Inc. in 2008, and has gone on to earn a certificate in NICU music therapy and in HealthRHYTHMS.  Inaugural recipient of the WRAMTA New Professional Award in 2009, Tim is a graduate of Chapman University in Orange, CA, where he served as President of the Student Music Therapy Association, as well as received the Music Therapy Award and Guitar Award from the Chapman Conservatory of Music. Find out more about Tim at www.sonicdivinity.com.

Dr. Eric B. Miller is a psychotherapist, music therapist and biofeedback therapist with experience in inpatient, outpatient, corporate and educational settings. He lectures on Music Therapy at Immaculata University and Montclair University and is a regular speaker at international conferences. Dr. Miller founded the Biofeedback Network and serves as Executive Director of non-profit organizations Expressive Therapy Concepts and Music for People. He resides in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.   His book: Bio-Guided Music Therapy A Practitioner's Guide to the Clinical Integration of Music and Biofeedback Forewords by Joseph P. Scartelli and C. Norman Shealy 2011, Paperback: $29.95 ISBN: 978-1-84905-844-5, 9.25in x 6in, 256pp

JoAnn Jordan is a board certified music therapist and a graduate of the University of Kansas. With more than 25 years in the field working with older adults and preschoolers, JoAnn has a passion for providing resources for those who work or live with older adults, children, or both of these populations. Her big passion is intergenerational groups that combine preschoolers with older adults. Many posts filled with ideas and access to her newsletter can be found at her business site: Music Sparks.  Website - http://www.music2spark.com

Maria Ramey, MT-BC, is a graduate of the music therapy program at California State University Northridge. While working as a music therapist at Hope University, a fine arts program for adults with developmental disabilities, Maria wrote the book Group Music Activities for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a collection of 100 session activity ideas published by Jessica Kingsley. Maria is now the music therapist at Royale Healthcare Center TRC, a residential psychiatric hospital in Santa Ana, CA. She was invited to create the music therapy program from the ground up at this facility where she provides both group and private music therapy sessions to three locked units. In addition to focusing on her passion as a music therapist Maria is also a professional flutist, wife and mother to three homeschooled children.

Pamela Ott is my guest. Pamela is a Musician, Mother, Board Certified Music Therapist and believer in music's ability to encourage, enhance and assist in a child's development. Since Music Therapy is out of the reach of many children that could truly benefit from it and music programs have been reduced due to budget cuts, she makes regular posts with music, activity and instrument ideas for parents, therapists and educators in the hope that it will encourage the use of more music in the education and development of children! She writes at musicforspecialkids.com

On April 27, Roia Rafieyan will join me to talk about her work as a music therapist in a state facility for folks who have a variety of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Most of the folks she works with are on the autism spectrum, and mostly they don’t use speech to communicate. She blogs at The Mindful Music Therapist and is also a singer/songwriter. Roia's music springs mostly from her work as a music therapist. Her passion for her work is reflected in her lyrics and point of view as a songwriter. She is a strong advocate for those who cannot always speak for themselves. Literally. Because her job is based so much on attitudes, emotions, and reactions to different situations, is it any wonder that these are the things that come out in her music? Who can't relate to an underdog?

My guest this week is Lillieth Grand, MS, MT-BC, Executive Director of Milestone Music Therapy. She has been a music therapist for over 18 years specializing in working with children who have neurological impairment, traumatic brain injury, autism, developmental disabilities, and chronic health conditions.

Strength-Based Improvisation is a new approach that is geared for participants with any amount of improvisation experience. Participants may use the instrument of their choice, which can include percussion or voice. Non-threatening experiential opportunities are aimed at personal exploration while simultaneously learning approaches to engage clients. Lisa Jackert, MA, MT-BC has 20 years of experience in adult/geriatric psychiatry, substance abuse, eating disorders, and wellness. Currently employed by Community Hospital of Long Beach and operates a private practice. She has been a clinical training director and past professor of Music Therapy at Chapman University. She received the award for Professional Practice at the 2005 Western Regional Conference. She is also a FAMI-candidate of the Association of Music and Imagery and has been focusing on the use of The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music with infertility and pregnancy. Currently, Lisa is on the Board of Directors for the American Music Therapy Association. Robin Rio, MA, MT-BC is professor of music therapy at Arizona State University. She also has many years of experience working with a variety of populations, including the geriatric population and the homeless. She is also is on the Editorial Board for Music Therapy Perspectives and has recently written the book: Connecting through Music: Music Therapy in Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care. Currently, Robin is serving as a member of the Ethics Board for the American Music Therapy Association and has past served the Western Region of AMTA as Vice President.

Having worked in music therapy for almost 20 years, Annette Whitehead-Pleaux currently works with pediatric burn patients at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Boston.  There she provides clinical services that focus on pain management, anxiety management, reduction in trauma symptoms, body image, improving fine and gross motor skills, and quality of life issues.  In addition to her clinical work, Annette has conducted clinical research on the effects of music therapy on pain.  In 2003, she was awarded the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Grant Award for her research on the effects of music therapy on pain and anxiety of pediatric patients undergoing medical procedures.  She has an interest in and has written about using music assisted technology into music therapy practice and multicultural issues.  Prior to working with pediatric burn patients, she worked with children, adults, and geriatric individuals diagnosed with mental illness.  Additionally, she has worked with children in special education classrooms and women and children at a domestic violence program.  She has served the New England Region and AMTA since 1997 and currently serves as the Assistant Speaker of the Assembly of Delegate, national chair of the Standards of Clinical Practice Committee, and a member of the Music Therapy Perspectives editorial board.  In 2003, Annette was named one of Thirty Extraordinary Bostonians by the Boston Event Guide.  She was awarded the 2004 President’s Achievement Awardby the New England Region for her work on the Rhode Island Night Club Fire Project.   She has a passion for knitting and being a mom.

April is Autism Month! My guest this week is Rachel See Smith, a music therapist from Music Therapy Services of Austin. Rachel is a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) with a B.A. in Communication Disorders from Truman State University and a Master’s in Music Therapy from the University of Iowa. 

This week I'm broadcasting live from the exhibit hall of the Southwestern Region of the American Music Therapy Association conference in Houston Texas. I will walk up to people in the exhibit hall to ask them about their conference experiences. The show will air live an hour later than ususal at 1:00 pm Eastern.

This week, I'm on Spring Break! But because it's Music Therapy Month, the MT Show is not. Today, I'll give you a behind-the-scenes look at The Music Therapy Show. If you've ever wondered how the show works, I'll tell all on this episode!

Daniel Tague, MME, MT-BC, is currently pursuing a doctorate in music therapy at Florida State University where he teaches a music therapy drumming course, class guitar and the lab portion of Psychology of Music and Behavior.  Daniel also runs music therapy groups and research at an in-patient psychiatric hospital in Georgia.  He recently moved from Texas where he was a therapist with Music Therapy Services of Texas and became director for the company in 2003. During his time at MTST, Daniel served clients in the public schools, assisted living centers and adults with disabilities.  He has provided music therapy services in schools across 11 counties in the DFW metroplex.  In addition, he was the World Music Drumming Curriculum coordinator for Brook Mays Music Company.  His work with World Music Drumming involved training educators and doing groups with at-risk youth in after-school programs.  Daniel is a frequent presenter at regional and national music therapy conferences.  His most recent presentations have been about using drums and percussion more effectively in therapy.  This year, he will present on how to combine music therapy and art therapy for dynamic effect.  Daniel’s past and current research range from using music to help with anxiety during pacemaker implant to combining painting and music to affect the mood of patients in the psychiatric hospital setting.  His dissertation is about using drumming in the psychiatric setting to improve patient mood and increase appropriate social behaviors.  Daniel is creator of Music Makes Sense, http://www.musicmakessense.blogspot.com, a blog about music therapy and helping parents, teachers and clients about using music more effectively. 

Krista Winter is my guest this week. Krista is a board certified music therapist in Lamar, Missouri. She also has training in Neurologic Music Therapy and provides music therapy and is Assistant Planetree Coordinator at Barton County Memorial Hospital. When the tornado hit nearby Joplin, Missouri, Krista spent many volunteer hours providing music therapy and other resources and assistance to that community. She will share her experiences with that and talk about her work at Barton County Memorial Hospital. Krista also blogs at http://tempotherapy.com/blog/