End of the Week Funny from the LIH team 🎶 #musictherapy #nmt #musictherapist #NeurologicMusicTherapy
We had a fabulous time making music with everyone who came out to the Onalaska Public Library for the community music therapy session this Tuesday! A huge thank you to the La Crosse County Library for having us. 🎶♥️
Take a mid-week break with one of our therapists, Andy Riederer, MT-BC, as he leads you through a Music in Psychosocial Training and Counseling (MPC)® task focused on relaxation.
"Music in Psychosocial Training and Counseling (MPC)® is a Neurologic Music Therapy® technique that uses musical performance to address issues of mood control, affective expression, cognitive coherence, reality orientation, and appropriate social interaction to facilitate psychosocial functions (Thaut, 2005, p.197)."
"The technique that I will demonstrate for you today is called Progressive Relaxation with music. This is a technique for adults but may also be adapted for children. In this technique, I will lead you through a series of breathing and body awareness exercises supported by recorded music that will ask you to slowly tense various muscles and then slowly release the tension. The contrast between the tensing and relaxing of muscles is designed to help redirect your attention from unpleasant thoughts/feelings and instead bring that focus onto the physical sensation caused by the tensing/relaxing the muscles. This technique will assist you in decreasing stress/anxiety and increase regulation. Please follow along with my cues, and if anything feels uncomfortable, please feel free to stop and start again when ready. For this technique you can follow along from a seated position or while lying on the floor. Let’s begin!
Post-intervention: This technique can provide an immediate feeling of relaxation, but it is best to practice frequently. With experience, you will become more aware of when you are experiencing tension and you will have the skills to help you relax. Feel free to add recorded nature sounds instead of recorded music if that helps you as well."
- Andy Riederer, MT-BC, WMTR, NMT-F
Music Echoic Memory Training (MEM)® uses the immediate recall of musical sounds presented by singing, instrumental playing, or recorded music to retain echoic memory. Echoic memory is short-term memory of sensory information from the previous 2-4 seconds. Through this technique, the client grows their echoic memory by recalling information that is presented through song lyrics and music excerpts.
"I utilize this technique with my clients to aid in the growth of their executive functioning skills, memory/recall skills, and attentional skills. Additionally, music therapists often utilize this technique when working with people with dementia, traumatic brain injuries, or cochlear implants."
- Lillian Schierbrock, MT-BC, WMTR, NMT
Musical Attention Control Training (MACT)
"Musical Attention Control Training (MACT) involves structured active or receptive musical exercises, using pre-composed performance or improvisation, in which musical elements cue different musical responses in order to practice sustained, selective, divided, and alternating attention functions. I feel confident in saying that this technique is used across the team on a daily basis! It is a great technique to establish attention and concentration prior to moving on to some higher cognitive skills, such as learning, memory tasks, and executive functioning. There are so many instruments and items that we have in our musical library that can be used for MACT, so I chose to showcase this technique with a video. In this video, selective attention is being targeted. Sarah was asked to choose 1 instrument to start and switch instruments when she heard 2 taps on the side of the xylophone."
- Jennifer Craugh, MT-BC, WMTR, NMT-F
Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE)
You can read more about Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE) in our most recent post and view Andrea's video example here:
Thank you for allowing our team at #lihmt and #musictherapy to help you “Let your true colors shine!” See you next year!!!!!
Today’s the day! Join us for our annual recital this weekend! More information can be found at www.lhmt.com/recital. #lihmt #westsalem #musictherapy
We are still planning for our party! Praying the storms blow in and out! First shower cooled it off a bit!
What "One Voice" means to LIH - 2017 Recital
We did it! Another successful, creative, energetic, and POWERFUL recital in the books! Thank you to everyone who came out to support our clients as they performed in the show. We had such a large turn out we ran out of programs after two of the four shows! We are so thankful for having the opportunity to give back to our clients and their people (parents, grandparents, therapists, social workers, etc.) in such a powerful way. The recital is the best way that we can demonstrate exactly what we do because it gives others an opportunity to witness and experience music therapy in action. So much of what goes on on stage at our recital is exactly what we do in our sessions, just in a different setting. For example, using communicative devices on stage, allowing time (and silence because our audience is amazing!) for the client to process, improvisation, Encouragement, incorporating visuals, etc. it all helps the audience grasp how music is functional and therapeutic and how music therapy is SO much more than just making music.
So many thank yous... We want to thank our team of volunteers who helped make this show run so smoothly! Our volunteers did a fantastic job helping with emceeing, assisting with bringing instruments on stage, selling items, registration, taking photos, helping clients on the stage, welcoming our guests, and tearing down after the event. Thank you to the LIH Team for all of your hard work and creativity preparing and executing the recital and to Kelly for helping coordinate everything. A HUGE thank you to Bradley who does such an amazing job running sound for this show because each verbalization is SO important to capture as well as being sure the sound system does not have a lot of feedback as we have many individuals in our audience who are very sensitive to certain sounds. Thank you to two local business sponsors who donated to this year's recital Designz Inc. and Altra Federal Credit Union (Altra had a pay it forward campagin where
Check one, check one... making sure the sound system is ready at the Marie W. Heider Center for the Arts for our 5th annual recital starting in less than three hours!!!!
Why do we have an annual music therapy recital?
Hear one of our music therapists, Katherine Sherrill, share about why we have an annual music therapy recital! We hope you can join us TONIGHT and TOMORROW! Details in the video! This event is FREE and FAMILY FRIENDLY!
Our team meeting was a day late but we wanted to take time to wish you all a Happy 4th of July!!! We took some time at our meeting to practice for our upcoming (big) opportunity to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the LaCrosse Speedway on July 16th! Hope to see you there - at the fair!!!
We are so honored to have been invited to sing AND have our logo going around the track on car #33 (Henderson Motorsports) driven by Matthew Henderson! Come cheer on #33 and LIH, the La Crosse Autism Foundation, the Down Syndrome Down Syndrome Association of WI-Lacrosse Chapter, and many other local organizations at the race!
