Dear fellow music therapist,
So many awesome music therapists to shout out, so little time! This week we have 2 big shout-outs for you: Rachelle Norman, MA, MT-BC and Sarah Thompson, MM, MT-BC.
Music Therapy Web Ethics Special Thru Friday ONLY
Not only does our new Web Ethics course fulfill the new CBMT ethics requirement, it also thoroughly investigates some controversial issues surrounding social media and our work.
We normally charge $150 for 6 CMTEs, but just for Tuesday Shout-Out Subscribers, we are offering this 6 CMTE course with 2 supportive phone calls for only $75. We’ve never offered a this kind of course for such a low price before… 50% savings!
Friday at midnight, the CMTEs go DOWN to only 4 (without supportive phone calls), and the price goes UP to $100.
Rachelle Norman, MA, MT-BC, is an accomplished therapist, serving as an adjunct faculty member at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College, serving older adults in Kansas City, and serving eldercare professionals through her online community Soundscaping Source.
In Web Ethics, Rachelle explores these questions:
> What if my clients find me on social media?
> What if my co-workers make inappropriate comments in my social media space?
> How do I respond to ethical dilemmas online?
Whether you are employed or self-employed, this course gives you a solid road map for making ethical decisions when cruising around the world wide web.
Sign up for the course before Friday, March 1, at midnight to get the best deal!
The Open Your DREAM Clinic Tour!
All week I have been so eager to announce the Open Your DREAM Clinic Tour for 2013. My bags are packed so I can travel the country and hang out at the most flourishing music therapy DREAM clinics across the United States.
First stop is DENVER, Colorado – Tomorrow (February 27)! I’ll be visiting Sarah Thompson at Rehabilitative Rhythms.
During the tour, I’ll be conducting interviews and taking footage of the amazing clinic spaces out there. I’m investigating how these clinics become so prosperous, how the clinicians got started, and how to sustain a practice in a clinic space. Follow the tour on Facebook.
For those of you who want to open a clinic, what questions do you need answered so you can take the first step? What are your biggest challenges? What’s getting in your way of opening a clinic space?
I also need your help in filling my calendar. Do you know of a DREAM clinic that absolutely *must* be a tour stop? Here are the tour stops so far:
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Leave a comment below and help me book up the Open Your DREAM Clinic Tour!!
Hi Kat,
You are absolutely nuts and I love every second of it!! Good luck on your “tour” and I hope you gather great information that I can suck out of you like a sponge.
If you stop in CT, please be sure to let me know so I can come say hi!!
Here are my top clinic space questions:
1. What is the magic number of square feet? And how do you decide how much you need to accomodate groups, storage, etc.
2. What are the ways to multi-purpose rooms? Ex. The George clinic’s treatment rooms I believe are also office space. The Bolton’s use their waiting area as a group room. What other fabulous ways have MTs gotten creative.
3. Storage in general-What are the best methods/ practices of keeping the instruments safe, easy to find, and not warping drum heads. (I am in need of new paddle drums now…..)
4. Should you mix traveling to clients when you have an office space and what are the ideas for making that functional?
5. What extra laws, insurances, or considerations do you need to transition from a traveling MT to having an office space.
6. What things must you tell any realtor to insure you don’t screwed over with snow removal, noise complaints, parking, etc.
7. How do you keep yourself SAFE if you are there alone? (I think it was the Boltons who had someone just pop up in their office after hours)
8. What budget should you have for emergencies and repairs. I worked at an autism clinic that had a homeless man open the pipe room which caused the pipes to BURST AND FLOOD the whole clinic 4 months into opening. Their landlord told them tough….
Thanks for your wisdom!!
These are GREAT questions, Jona!!! Thanks for giving me some really thorough ideas to explore!!
Love the idea of a tour! I Jona has a great list of items. I’d also like to see what traveling music therapist are using/packing and how.
Hey JoAnn! Awesome – I’m not sure I’ll have time for traveling music therapists strategies this time around, but good to know that it’s in demand. I’ll see what kind of footage I can grab on this topic. =)
Hey Kat. A fellow MT forwarded me your tour message. Howwww funnn!! She said that I should get on your tour list (which I thought was QUITE the compliment. Just wanted to throw out there that we’d love to be considered for your tour list if you’re interested. I own a small private practice in Overland Park, Kansas called Successful Sounds, which is “A Music Therapy Based Approach to Teaching the Autistic Child” for ages 2-8. I rent space out of Johnson County Montessori School so that we can offer private integration to our families who are looking to have their child mainstreamed. Along w/private, semi-private and social skills groups, we also run a summer camp for ASD/PDD/ADHD for children ages 4-10 called “Camp Kidz Rock!” You are welcome to contact me if you’re interested in chatting! SuccessfulSounds@hotmail.com or 913-383-8465. If I don’t hear from you, no worries. Just thought I’d throw it out there for ya! Good luck w/your tour! Musically Yours~ “Mz. Tiffany” 😉
Hi Tiffany, Thanks for throwing it out there! I hope to head out to Kansas – Let me find out how the logistics work. Thanks for sharing your clinic and spirit with the world! =)
Hi Kat!
I would LOVE for you to come to La Crosse, WI to see my new DREAM clinic! I had the opportunity to build from a dirt floor so it works great for what we need! It’s about 2000 square feet but much bigger than where we were previously in a clinic that was about 700 sq ft. I work with 2 other therapists who are subcontractors. We are not a HUGE location however we love our space and I would love to share how the business grew from me seeing 1 person in their home to now servicing over 60 people with 3 therapists. 90% of our clients receive reimbursement through state programs and we also got our first insurance reimbursement!! I am a recent grad (w/ in 5 years) and always try to encourage high school students to pursue their dream, create their own job, and love what they do. I get so frustrated when students come to me and tell me that their guidance counselor told them to not pursue music therapy because there are no jobs… there are SO many opportunities just waiting to be developed! Thanks for doing this tour! I am excited to see what other MTs are doing in the Nation! I LOVE your energy! Thanks for considering Life In Harmony Music Therapy, LLC!
Amy! That sounds amazing! Thanks for checking the post out, and I’ll look at my calendar and see what I can work out…. =)
Hi Kat!
This is AMAZING!!!!
Questions I have about opening my own clinic are along the lines of…
How do you guarantee you will have enough clients to consistently pay your rent? this is my ongoing struggle … I am a contractor at a few places where kids come to see me, and I also go to children’s homes — and as of yet, I have found neither to be more profitable … as rent can be expensive!
And, how do you know when it is time to go for it and to open your own clinic???
I would like to do this – when the time is ripe for me!!!
And, do you notice that successful clinics clearly articulate their philosophical approach to music therapy? For instance, I am working with a lot of kids on the autism spectrum, and I am finding I am less and less of a behaviorist, even though ABA therapy is extremely popular with the clientele I am working with. I am finding I am much more interested in improvisational music therapy, etc, than a behavioral approach.
Anyway, so just wondering, how much does clearly articulating your philosophical approach to music therapy effect the success of your music therapy clinic?
Just wondering if you notice any trends 🙂 I know that was a mouthful!!! 🙂
Good luck! This is amazing!
Rachel
Rachel, These are AMAZING questions. Thank you SO much for throwing these out there – Great questions for everyone to think about… These are going at the top of my interview questions list.
Thanks!!!
Just adding another request: MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis
Perhaps the dream tour could stop at the University of Alabama in August?! UA has an undergraduate music therapy program and the Rise program (where I work full time). There are also several budding private practices in Tuscaloosa/Birmingham. We have so many national championship titles…why not add “most dream MT clinics” to that list…? :o)
Nice add here Dawn! I’m curious whether any of those private practitioners have a clinic space… If they DO, then I’d love to explore further. I’m really honing in on private practice for this one. Thanks so much for your response here!!!