Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) training in Fort Collins, Colorado.  On the flight over, my colleague and I discussed our excitement for the training and our hopes for it to enhance our work at the hospital.  I was also hoping it would carry over into my work with developmental disabilities too.  I am very happy to report, I was not disappointed on either account!

The four-day training was intense beginning with an overview of the brain and its functions (I knew those late nights studying the parts of the brain in college would prove worthwhile someday!). From there we were introduced to a wealth of biomedical and neurological research pertaining to music’s effect on the brain. The research (and there’s a ton!) serves as the basis for the 20 NMT techniques that we spent the rest of the weekend practicing through role-play and demonstration. By the end of the weekend, it was thrilling to not only receive my certificate and designation as a Neurologic Music Therapist, but more importantly to feel better equipped to support both my patients and clients with some of the best practice techniques and methods in the field of music therapy to date.

So how about you? Have you received your designation as a Neurologic Music Therapist?  If yes, how are you using it in your clinical practice?  If no, I highly recommend you consider this advanced clinical training.  At the very least the training will help you to better assess your clients, develop goals and objectives, and use music to facilitate non-musical responses on the most neurological level!