Sunday, November 20, 2011

2011 AMTA National Conference

The SMWC Music Therapy faculty, along with many current students and alums from both the undergraduate, equivalency, and graduate programs, just returned from the 2011 American Music Therapy Association Conference in Atlanta, GA. This annual conference includes sessions, trainings/institutes, musical performances, lectures, and so much more.

SMWC Music Therapy Faculty News:
Dr. Tracy Richardson, MT-BC (Associate Professor and Director of Music Therapy) presided over meetings as the new president of the Great Lakes Region of AMTA, in addition to providing a voice as an Assembly Delegate (think of this group as the "Congress" of music therapy in the United States).

Sharon R. Boyle, M.M., MT-BC (Associate Professor and Coordinator of Undergraduate Music Therapy) co-presented with Dr. Jennifer Jones (Western Illinois University) about a parallel project they completed with their students in the spring about intentional and mindful self care. In addition, she presided for SMWC colleague Dr. Patricia McIntyre, who presented about the role of ethics in music therapy advocacy.



Highlights of the conference include Dr. Kenneth Bruscia's lecture as part of the Sears Lecture Series (see picture, courtesy of Debbie Bates, MMT, MT-BC), Jodi Picoult's video interview explaining her process of writing her recent novel "Sing You Home" (with a music therapist as main character), Dr. Connie Tomaino and clips from the recent movie "The Music Never Stopped" (based on Tomaino's work with a former patient), and the attendance of musician Ben Folds (most recently seen as judge of the t.v. show "Sing Off") to Saturday and Sunday of the conference.

Finally, this conference also brought SMWC the news that the American Music Therapy Association has officially approved our Music Therapy Equivalency Distance (MTED) program, which will commence in Fall 2012.  See our website for more information: http://www.smwc.edu/music-therapy-equivalency-distance-program/

The next national conference will be held in October 2012 in St. Charles, IL.