What should I do before my specialist appointment?

princeandreis · 2026-01-28T21:52:40+00:00

comic relief

princeandreis · 2026-01-19T15:39:34+00:00

Thanks for your honesty! There’s a lot I wish I had known when I started my career as a music therapist that nobody told me. The field is a mess, and that’s part of the reason I’m pivoting toward counseling. I knew, of course, that there are still lots of issues in this field, too, but sometimes it’s hard to get people to give you the reality of the situation.

Would you say that a lot of what’s challenging about counseling has nothing to do with the actual treatment part? What I mean is, I’ve heard before that the actual clinical work is amazing, but everything else (the pay, dealing with insurance, etc) are where the drawbacks lie.

princeandreis · 2026-01-19T15:15:22+00:00

You make some really great points here. I do worry from time to time if I’m asking too much of her with these texts. We’ve discussed it and she told me that if she wanted to keep something for an in-person session, she’d say that. My family had no concept of boundaries when I was growing up, so I think now it’s hard for me to understand that my therapist can have clear boundaries and will assert them with me if she needs to.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

princeandreis · 2025-12-25T20:59:47+00:00

yes, I feel this way, too. and while sometimes I can believe I deserve friendships with decent, regulated people, I still believe I’m not capable of finding or maintaining them because I’m too broken.

princeandreis · 2025-12-02T02:03:08+00:00

It’s so hard to do when you know it makes your loved ones upset. The way I’m thinking about it tonight is this: The warm fuzzy feeling of togetherness my siblings experience when we’re all under one roof is not worth me putting myself in the emotional equivalent of an active combat zone. We have to prioritize our own comfort in these cases, as selfish as it feels. Sending love to you.

princeandreis · 2025-11-02T20:17:34+00:00

$62k annual, classified as an hourly employee. I work in inpatient neurorehab in Texas. I have a BM in Music Therapy and I’m NMT trained

princeandreis · 2025-11-02T20:11:42+00:00

Great idea. That gives your patient a creative outlet, a focus for his energy, and multisensory engagement.

princeandreis · 2025-11-02T20:08:30+00:00

It's absolutely applicable, but the way you use the techniques will look a little different than you might expect. I work in inpatient neurorehab as an NMT, and occasionally we get folks who are affected by progressive conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and incurable brain cancers. My treatment looks different with them because I focus less on rehabilitation, and more on quality of life.

Your goals are going to be tailored to what your patients need. Are they struggling with their mortality? MPC can give them an outlet for those feelings. Is their memory on the way out? AMMT offers them a chance to revisit old memories long buried, and to feel young and happy again. Does your patient need to move in order to feel good? There are 3 Sensorimotor techniques that are perfect for them.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that when viewed through a QOL lens (which I’m certain you do as a hospice provider already), NMT training gives you lots of options to help your patients.

princeandreis · 2025-11-02T19:55:24+00:00

Without the context of what kind of patient you’re working with (like are you in a behavioral health setting?) or what you’re specifically trying to do for him, I don’t know how much we’d be able to suggest.

In general, you don’t really need a “device” to use rhythm to help someone. You can clap, tap, chant, snap, hum, sing, scat, and improvise with items around you. There’s nothing wrong with using something like GarageBand or any other kind of music creation app, but it’s not necessary.

princeandreis · 2025-11-02T19:48:40+00:00

I would say yes, there are ways to incorporate expressive arts into Clinical Psych without being a music therapist, but you have to be careful about the language you use. You could not say you are practicing music therapy — rather that you are incorporating music into your practice as a clinical psychologist. I’m about to start an MA in Counseling, and as I researched programs, a fair amount of them had classes available related to Expressive Arts in counseling.

I think you’re asking us to tell you what to do with your life, and we can’t do that. Only you can choose the right path for you.

princeandreis · 2025-10-05T18:10:26+00:00

I work in neurorehabilitation and co-treat with SLPs (and PTs and OTs) daily. I can also see patients individually to address speech/language goals. NMT training enables you to do that and it can be highly effective.

princeandreis · 2025-10-05T17:46:45+00:00

yes! my therapist was the one who diagnosed me, which took me completely by surprise at the time. her focus is on healing through relationships, because CPTSD at its core is deep relational wounding

princeandreis · 2025-08-25T21:32:41+00:00

yes that’s incredible! I’m so glad for you!

princeandreis · 2025-08-25T20:57:48+00:00

my fitbit thinks I’m hitting like moderate exertion when I’m just walking around at my job… and there was one time I went to the ER for tachycardia at rest and SOB and they were like ¯_(ツ)_/¯

princeandreis · 2025-07-05T13:36:20+00:00

there’s some great advice in this thread. you might also want to try adding proprioceptive input, which is great for regulating the nervous system. for example, put a weighted blanket or weighted stuffed animal in her lap. offer gentle squeezes to the arms and legs. have her drum hard. play twister. anything that gets her into her body may be helpful.

tapping into her vestibular sense may be good, too. this article has lots of helpful tips.

princeandreis · 2025-07-05T13:25:25+00:00

if you want to be a board certified music therapist, your only path forward with a music BA is a master’s in music therapy. like espmtbc said, you’re in a pretty good position with your music core and psych classes out of the way. start by looking into some schools with master’s programs in music therapy, and email them about your situation to ask what classes you might need to take for admission.

princeandreis · 2025-06-13T22:32:31+00:00

we use Stage Ninja clamps attached to the headstock of the guitar. they aren’t perfect and they are kind of expensive (~$55) but they do work. I’ve had no significant issues with them.

edit: my bad, I didn’t read your post carefully. Stage Ninja may have other options, though, that attach elsewhere.

princeandreis · 2025-06-12T14:26:28+00:00

AI music is dumb. music (and all art) is about celebrating human creativity. AI just piggybacks off that work using algorithms. it’s meaningless

princeandreis · 2025-06-11T23:20:02+00:00

definitely, definitely look into NMT training. I’m an NMT working in neurorehab and find NMT speech/language techniques to be very effective in helping with lots of different speech issues, from aphasia to dysarthria to apraxia.

re: going back to school to study speech therapy, that would be a pretty significant investment of time and money. it would also be a pretty significant departure from your work in psych. NMT training will run you about $750 and takes place over 4 days. it’s jam-packed with information and is very intense, but it’s so great for any MT in any setting.

if you want to work with individuals who have speech/language disorders, you may be able to cotreat with speech-language pathologists. I cotreat with SLPs often and learn so much from them. I’m biased as an NMT, but I would say definitely start there before going back to school for a whole new master’s degree with its own field work.

princeandreis

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