by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 7, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello everybody!
So far 2016 has been a whirlwind and we have already completed our first five-week session of Listen & Learn for Little Ones. This session we tried something a little different by splitting our little ones into two groups based on ages and development. We were all very excited to see how the parents and little ones would adjust to the change. As it turns out, they loved it!
What was most amazing is that the little ones who used to be reserved and quiet were coming out of their shells and participating throughout group in ways that they never had before. The change was instantaneous.
In our very first week of classes with the split, I was leading the older class and it was wonderful chaos. The little ones were laughing, dancing, singing, and playing; that is, until I took out the book. Then the running, screaming, and jumping stopped as they all quietly gathered around and watched in awe as I read The Little Blue Truck. They watched and listened with intent until the little blue truck in our story got stuck in the mud and I watched as the kids cried “Oh, no!” “He’s stuck in the mud!” and shook their heads with deep concern.
The age split allowed us as instructors to focus on more specific developmental markers to that age range and encouraged each child to come out of his or her own space and truly experience the class. I don’t think a single one of us could keep from sharing in the joy that these little ones experienced in music class that day and throughout the session.
-AH
by Rachel | Feb 5, 2016 | Class Registration, News, Parents
We are so excited about the next round of classes, which begins in less than two weeks. Not only are we offering our usual classes, but we have added several new ones: an introduction to guitar and social skills classes for two different age groups.
This session, there truly is a class for EVERYONE, no matter what age. I can’t tell you how many times a parent has said to me, “I really wish I had stuck with those piano lessons when I was a kid,” or “I’ve always wanted to learn the guitar”. That was our motivation for opening classes up to adults, and we are really looking forward to seeing them in action.
Our Mid Winter session begins the week of February 15, and classes are either 5 or 8 weeks in length. Registration is open now and space is limited, so we hope you’ll join us in you are located in central Illinois! Click here for details and to secure your spot.
by Katey Kratz | Jan 27, 2016 | News, Parents
Over the past few months, we have been truly blessed to have Shelbi Baker helping us out at Music Therapy Connections.
Shelbi approached us in the early fall to ask if we were hiring an administrative assistant. At that point, we hadn’t even thought about it. Shelbi asked for a position that didn’t exist and we created it. She helped us realize that we really did need the help! Since then, she’s been coming into the office once or twice a week to help with all of the behind the scenes activities that take place and we are soooo grateful for all of the help she provided!
Shelbi saved Rachel and I numerous hours creating packets, burning CD’s, prepping materials, emailing families, scheduling lessons, communicating with teachers, and more.
We are deeply saddened that this is Shelbi’s last week at MTC but are thrilled that she will be moving on to an exciting new adventure working full time in her field in St. Louis.
Congrats Shelbi!! We’ll Miss YOU!
by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 21, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello All!
I am so glad to be back in the swing of things after the break and posting again!
It has been a whirlwind of a few months here at Music Therapy Connections. I am approaching my four month mark for my six month internship. I am now at the point where I am leading most of the sessions and interactions between students, clients, patients family, doctors, nurses, and so on. Every day I get asked questions like…“So you play guitar for the kids here?”, “You help them to relax?” or the most common response “What is music therapy?”.
So, what do you say? How do you explain what we do to parents, students, doctors, or someone who overheard you at the grocery store. Well..
- Who are you talking to? If you are speaking to a student or a child it is perfectly appropriate to use abbreviated terms and casual speech, but when parents, nurses, and other adults ask they usually want to hear the more clinical aspect of what we do and how we approach therapy.
- What is their need to know information? Are they asking about music therapy concerning their mother who has Dementia, their niece who has autism, or even themselves. If time permits it is very helpful to ask what sparked their interest. That can be help you to give them information and resources that cater to their interests.
- Finally, and this is a big one… TIME. Is this an inquiry via email, in a shopping line, in passing in the hallway or even on an elevator. What do you do when someone asks you the big question “So, what is music therapy?” and you have two floors to give them a clear and concise answer. AND GO!
I like to have my go to facts in my head to refer back to. They include…
- To be a music therapist you have to have a four year degree in music therapy and complete a six month internship full time totaling 1040 hours. After internship the student must take the board certification exam and pass to become a board certified music therapist or MT-BC.
- In music therapy we address non-musical goals like speech, cognition, social skills, emotions, and motor goals. If we were to focus on musical goals that would be more of an adaptive lesson.
- Music contributes to therapy in many ways including providing grounding and orientation, rhythmic stimulus for calming heart rate or promoting a steady consistent gait, and in general music comes with less verbal and physical expectations. There are many ways to achieve a successful therapeutic experience in music therapy without any speech at all.
Music therapy is a wide reaching profession. It is impossible to explain all of what we do in a few sentences in a line at the grocery store, but with a few go to facts we can all advocate for music therapy every day.
Best of luck!
-AH
by Rachel | Jan 20, 2016 | Business Bits, MTC
Last week we did something we’ve never done before: we sent an email to all of our class participants asking for their feedback in the form of a short survey. The results have been eye-opening (in a good way).
I’ll admit, it’s a little scary reaching out and asking people for their honest and anonymous opinions on the work we do. We pour our hearts into creating and implementing each class, but we know they are far from perfect. There’s always room for improvement, and we wanted to take the guesswork out of making them even better for our families.
Awesomely, the consensus so far is that we should keep doing what we’re doing, with some tweaks here and there. Many parents have suggested specific types of songs and activities they would like to see added, along with ways to elicit even more participation and opportunities for learning.
We’ve also gotten feedback regarding the length of our sessions, class sizes, and days on which classes should be offered. It’s been super helpful for future planning.
If you’re interested in asking YOUR families for feedback, you can check out the survey we sent here. It’s super simple, and at some point we’ll probably send out something more in-depth, but for now, the types of responses we’ve been receiving are exactly what we need.
One last note: my favorite thing about the survey results is getting to see just how comfortable our families have become with us. There were more than a few witty comments and suggestions that had us lol’ing as we read through them, and lots of sweet words about how the impact we’ve made on their children. There is absolutely no better feedback than that!
by Katey Kratz | Jan 14, 2016 | About Listen & Learn for Leaders, MTC
When Rachel & I sat down for a quick coffee date in January 2014, neither of us had ANY clue where it would lead. We talked about life, goals for the new year, and she gave me some reading recommendations. She asked about wedding planning, I asked about Parker. You know, the normal stuff. Then she dropped the single sentence idea that would change everything.
I’m sorry… what??? Like a freestanding building dedicated to music therapy??? Of course!!
The following two years were an absolute whirlwind of amazing things I could never have imagined. We joined practices, rented space at Capital City Music , took on subcontractors, added an internship, moved into a 2,300 sq. ft. space of our own, and so much more. We have met and exceeded almost every one of our 2-5 year goals in only 18 months. The past two years have been a constant state of growth and movement. However, with growth comes the need to create new goals and re-examine the business.
A couple weeks ago, Rachel and I sat down for a long business meeting to re-assess where we are at and what the next steps need to be. Over the course of this meeting we developed our three focus words for the new year.
We’ve each written a little more about what these three words mean to us and how we plan to implement them in 2016, but I believe we can ALL benefit from is implementing the words above. Check out our posts for some ideas:
Three Words for 2016
Simplify
Streamline
Self-Care
by Rachel | Jan 7, 2016 | MTC, Tips & Tricks
One of the biggest frustrations we faced during early childhood classes at our previous location was the placement of our instruments and equipment. We were constantly redirecting our students away from the guitar, which sat in a floor stand when we weren’t using it, and trying to keep little hands out of the drawers of our rolling instrument cart.
So when we moved to our new studio and had complete control over how the room was designed, our first priority was to structure the room in a way that instruments and equipment were out of reach and no longer a distraction for everyone.
We considered a few different solutions, and then one day Katey sent me a photo of the slatwall that was hung all over the walls of the music store in which we were previously located. Why didn’t we think of that sooner!?
So we picked up sheets of slatwall from our local hardware store, which were easy enough to drill into the walls and then stock with accessories for hanging and storing, which were purchased here.
We also installed guitar wall mounts in our group rooms and in our individual lesson/session rooms so that our guitars and ukuleles could be kept out of reach.
Our storage solutions have not only allowed us to keep our instruments and equipments better protected, but they have also made lots more floor space for our students and families during classes. This has come in very handy as our numbers have grown quite a bit since moving to our new studio!
by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 1, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Happy New Year, everybody!
Can you believe that we made it? 2016 has begun!
I know for some of us a new year means a new start, a new workout regimen, a new set of books to read before next year, or a resolution.
To be honest I didn’t plan to have a “resolution” this year. Life is a bit hectic for me right now to say the least. I have finished four years of schooling and am officially over halfway finished with my internship. I am that much closer to being a certified professional and reaching a goal which I have been working toward and planning for since I was fourteen.
My plan for my break was to catch up on work and maybe even get ahead… so I’ll just be upfront with you… that did not happen. It is now three days until we are back in the grind of crazy life and this blog post is my first completed task on my to do list. Whats crazy though, is that I am entirely okay with it.
Over my break I actively chose to make decisions that would bring me joy, not happiness, but lasting, true joy. So instead of making myself complete and assignment that wasn’t due for another week, with a frazzled holiday mindset I chose not to. Instead, I spent time with my family, I laughed, I babysat my cousin, I bonded with my brother and brothers in law. I fostered relationships that were important to me. And when, on occasion I had free time alone after others had gone to sleep, I found that I enjoyed doing research and looking up ideas for the clients I see in my internship. I found that I would have bursts of random ideas for songs, interventions, even documentation.
I was inspired. The joy that I had decided to bring into my life was now fueling a passion and drive to complete the work I had determined to be taxing from the start.
My new years resolution this year is to choose joy in my daily life and actively pursue a personal and professional lifestyle which allows me to do that.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 1, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello Everybody,
This last week has been much more of an introspective sort of week. My internship supervisors have completed my midterm evaluation and have asked me to evaluate myself as well. This is very difficult to do because I want to be the best therapist I can be. Unfortunately, that leads me to hold myself to unreasonable and at times, unrealistic expectations for myself.
So I have been trudging through this challenging task with all of this in mind. Fortunately for me a very important point was brought to my attention…
A few days ago I was working on the pediatrics floor of St. Johns hospital when I approached a patient’s room. As usual I knocked, said hello, introduced myself and what I do and asked if the patient would be interested in doing music with me. The patient shook his head and said no. With the guardian’s interest and encouragement I walked to the patients bedside and asked about the toys he was playing with.
Soon thereafter the patient agreed to playing a song. Throughout the session we took frequent breaks to talk about his family, toys, and interests of his. His affect was flat through most of the session but appeared to be relaxed so we kept going. Finally, it was time to go. After I sang goodbye, the patient’s eyes began to well up with tears and he nodded when his guardian asked him if he liked the music.
This patient did not express outright interest in active music making, but because I was able to engage with him he was able to have a musical experience that clearly meant a lot to him in the end.
The reason why I tell this story is because three months ago when I first began my internship, I would not have attempted engaged a patient after being told no. I’m not even sure that I would have left my supervisor’s side in any given patient’s room. Internships are meant to be challenging, difficult, new, exciting, terrifying, eye opening, and truly an experience that can only be defined as organized chaos. This enviornment fosters rapid growth.
To measure success without understanding where I have been and where I am now would be an entirely inaccurate and meaningless measurement.
So my very important point, or epiphany was centered around the idea of growth.
Growth is the most important thing. No greatness came from stagnation.
If you’re growing your getting closer to your goals everyday.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Dec 17, 2015 | MTC
Hello again!
I hope you all have had a lovely week.
My week was very special as it ended with our recital on Saturday. But this wasn’t just any recital, this was the first recital that I have ever been to where I have students and clients participating. I discovered that this perspective is different, but in many ways very similar.
For instance, it was in no way less stressful. I was overwhelmed with nerves and excitement as my students took the stage to play their piece. I’m sure that my face had turned red as red can be. When they played their piece they played beautifully, they kept going when they made mistakes, they got up on stage even having just overcome an illness, and for some they performed regardless of ability or disability but because they had a song to show the world and this was their stage to do it. Some of my students were elated to having been on stage, and some were so overwhelmed with excitement that they ran off stage when they were done.
It was one of those moments where I’m trying to look composed and keep it together when I just want to throw both arms up in the air and do a victory dance every time they get the transition, every time they complete a song beautifully, every time they remember all. of. the. words.
What I thought I knew was that I would be proud of them, what I didn’t know was how proud. I am so lucky to be able to work with a group of people who make my world a brighter place every single day. Not many people can say that they love what they do, but because of these people, I really do.
-AH
