Archive | August, 2010

How to Sell Music Therapy and Drum Circles… or any passion you have for that matter!

By on August 31, 2010 in Business & Practice

I’m very grateful for the work that I have in San Diego. In the Drum Call with Christine Stevens, a listener asked the question “How do you get clients?” What a great question! There are a million and one ways to get work and clients. I answered “When you do what you love, work just comes.”

I’d like to add to that idea. I’ll use my experience in speaking with NICU administrators and older adult community directors as examples.

1. First, you have to be the person you love to be. This is at the core of selling. When you are living authentically, you come across to others as authentic and genuine. There are many resources available on living authentically. Read any book by Osho, Wayne Dyer, or Leo Babauta (blogger) to get started living an inspired life. Living an inspired life allows your purpose, drive, direction, and motivation to naturally become available. Don’t go “looking” for your purpose. It’s already there. I recommend simply and effortlessly unveiling it~ Start peeling off the layers, and yourself will be revealed. I do this partly through transformative movement sessions with Draza Jansky.

2. Know who you’d like to work with. If you set out to offer music therapy and drum circles to everyone, your marketing energy will be too scattered. Start by pinpointing one niche, one population that you really love. Then expand from there.

3. Speak the customer’s language. One example I bring up with regards to NICU music therapy is that in some ways, the treatment is similar to overdrive pacing. The iso-principle that we use in music therapy is basically overdrive pacing (a cardiologist’s term) in a non-invasive way. This has been very successful when presenting to cardiologists and neonatologists.

4. Point out how your service makes the customer’s life easier. For instance, we know that insurance reimbursement is available for certain NICU music therapy treatment protocols. We also know that a hospital can pay the salary of a part-time music therapist in a 40-bed NICU strictly through insurance reimbursement, costing the hospital nothing.

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VIDEO: The Perfect Rainstorm~ Activities for the Elderly

By on August 25, 2010 in Older Adults

I’ve recently been working on socialization, providing an outlet for creative expression, decreasing isolation, providing a basis for reminiscence, improving communication, managing stress, and promoting wellness in my older adult clients. I provide music therapy to independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, Alzheimer’s/dementia, and everything in between. Here’s a rainstorm video. Watch at your own risk, and don’t be surprised when the gray clouds come rolling in ;)

YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyya_jlVq0

In the video, I mention ShakerMan.com. I love that guy! He has a really interesting selection of instruments. All drum circle facilitators get 20% off ShakerMan.com!

For the past two weeks, these instruments have been in my car:

Image courtesy of dan.

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The Music Therapy Show Transcription

By on August 24, 2010 in Music & Wellness

Last Friday, I was honored to be a guest on the longest-running music therapy podcast, Janice Harris’s Music Therapy Show. I spoke about music therapy in corporate settings, self-care, and wellness. I transcribed the show below. (I have a new-found appreciation for transcribers – This took me forever!) Read below, listen to the show, and check out Janice’s blog!

Janice: Hello everyone! Welcome to the Music Therapy Show with Janice Harris. I’m Janice Harris, the host and producer of this show. I have been working in music therapy for 15 years with a variety of populations, and designed this show to talk about music therapy, to educate people about what music therapy is, find topics that I think are interesting that I’m interested in learning more about, and to hear from you all to find out what’s interesting to you. Today is Friday, August 20, 2010, and I have a very special guest with me today, but before I introduce my guest, I’d like to invite all of you to go to TheMusicTherapyShow.blogspot.com and let me know what topics you’re interested in hearing or let me know what questions you have about music therapy.

My guest today is Kat Fulton. She has a Master of Music in music therapy. She’s a board-certified music therapist, and she also has her certification in NICU music therapy (with the neonatal intensive care unit, doing music therapy with that population). Kat Fulton is a speaker and board-certified music therapist whose passion is achieving therapeutic goals through making music. Her motto is “Be well, feel good, and make music.” I think that’s an excellent motto. She has a Masters in Music Therapy from the Florida State University, which is the headquarters for the Institute for Infant and Child Medical Music Therapy, and she holds high standards for scientific research and maintains a practice infused with the latest evidence-based techniques and strategies. She’s also associated with Remo as an endorsed facilitator. Remo is a corporation that produces drums and encourages drum circle facilitating. Kat maintains a professional membership in the American Music Therapy Association, the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association, and the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild. Kat welcome to the show!

Kat: Thanks for having me Janice! I’m honored to be a guest.

Janice: I’m so pleased to talk with you. I’ve been following you on Twitter and Facebook, and I know that you do a lot with the social media, but first can you tell us where is your practice. And you have a couple of websites up, can you tell us about those, too?

Kat: Sure. I’m located in San Diego, and out of the two websites, one is just the company SoundHealthMusic.com, and then the other website I have is called RhythmForGood.com, which is my blog. Basically, Rhythm For Good serves to inform healthcare professionals, educators, wellness providers, and the general public about music and health. Also, Rhythm For Good is a free online resource for music therapists, drum circle facilitators, and music-making enthusiasts in general, too. I’ll put for instance, you might’ve seen the boomwhacker videos, so I’ll put up different ideas for how to make music with your clients.

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8 Tips for Self Care While Serving a Client

By on August 20, 2010 in Music & Wellness, Z

How many times have you heard “If you can’t take care of yourself, then you can’t take care of others.” A million times, right? This is so significant in my life that I even manage to take care of myself while facilitating sessions.

I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it yet, but my self-care practice has evolved tremendously in the past 5 years. These suggestions come from my own experience and the experiences of some colleagues with whom I’ve spoken about the topic.

Self-care is the act of maintaining personal wellness (physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and socially) that allows one to function at his/her most optimal level during daily activities.

The American Music Therapy Assoc. Professional Competency 14.1 reads: “Recognize the impact of one’s own feeling, attitudes, and actions on the client and the therapy process” (AMTA 2009). I further believe that it is the responsibility of the therapist to refer the client to another professional if the therapist is not healthy enough to provide service.

In the Drum Call with Christine Stevens, I stated that “If you come home from work and you are exhausted, too tired to make dinner, too tired to exercise, then something is out of balance in your practice.” In my opinion, the therapist should feel an even exchange of energy. And it’s the therapist’s responsibility to regulate his/her own energy exchange during the day.

Here are 8 ethically-sound ways to take care of yourself during the day:

1. Check in with yourself. When you do a check in with your client(s) (e.g. hello song, drum greeting, first deep breaths), also check in with yourself silently. If you find you need a deep breath, then facilitate a few deep breaths for your client(s), too. If your leg is stiff, then work in a gentle leg stretch in the session (if it flows with the rest of the session). Better yet, come to the session centered, grounded, and prepared. If need be, start the session late so that you can take a moment for yourself beforehand.

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MythBuster Countdown #1: It’s too late in life to play music.

By on August 17, 2010 in Music & Wellness, Mythbusters

I’ve chosen this is as the #1 myth in the countdown because I work with tons of older adults, but most of my peers are in their 30s. So, when one of my friends mentions “Oh, it’s way too late for me to pick up music again” or “I haven’t picked up the clarinet since middle school, and it’s my biggest regret,” it drives me crazy! This post is for YOU, my dear friends who have hangups about how you wish you still played music. (The point of this post is only an aside to the topic of music therapy because of course, no level of musical skills or ability is necessary to benefit from music therapy.)

I know from real life experiences and clinical experiences that it’s never too late in life to play music. In order to back my argument up with substantial evidence, I had to dig around to find some research and ask the experts. First, check out one of my favorite books: The Brain that Changes Itself. It’s all about brain plasticity, and the author shares stories of people in physical rehab and people with special needs who end up teaching their brain new tricks at different ages.

Also, I asked Blythe LaGasse of the Music Therapy Research Blog, a blog with a community of readers interested in maintaining evidence-based practice. I can’t say enough good stuff about her work. You *have* to read her blog. She explained that two studies show neuroplasticity in adult non-musicians after a short period of musical instruction (Pascual-Leone 2001 and Lahav et al. 2007). She says, “In essence, it takes longer [to learn music at a later age] because it is new and our brains aren’t wired for music. BUT we can change that with practice in a relatively short amount of time.”

And now for some light-hearted venting: If it truly is your biggest regret to not have continued to play music, then get off the couch, quit playing video games, and play some music again. Your regrets will dissipate, and you’ll feel good about yourself. It really is that simple. Join a chorus, community band, or orchestra to give yourself some accountability. Or perhaps, find a great teacher and take some lessons to prepare for a recital. Jam with your friends. Sing in the shower. Boogie in your car. Then please, have no regrets.

And if you think it’s “way too late” to pick up music again, and you’re only 30, then come along with me to any given session in the middle of the day, drum with some older adults, and get inspired! If an 88 year old wheelchair-bound, arthritic woman can play a drum, smile, and have a grand time, then you can pick up either a drum or an instrument with a little more fine motor action. Just do it. Don’t drag your feet. Chin up, do it, and quit giving yourself excuses.

Do you have any friends who wish they’d never “quit” music? What would you say to them?

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