Winding Down the Year

It's hard to believe that we have only 2 more weeks left to the clinical year! June 27 is our last day of sessions. We will be saying goodbye to some of our clients who are completing their courses of therapy, as well as to many of our students. It's a time of mixed emotions, sad endings but also new beginnings.


Now our thoughts are turning to the summer and to the 2009-2010 clinical year--our 20th. While we do not generally hold sessions during the summer, it is a very busy time for us. In addition to writing all our treatment summaries, we have intake sessions with potential new clients, meeting them in the music. Piecing together the clinical schedule and staff/student schedules is a mind-boggling puzzle. We do our best to accomodate the varying schedules of our clients, students, and staff, well over 100 people. We anticipate having a record number of students next year, including interns, Level 1 and Level 2 Certification candidates. Plus we try to find some time for vacation!


This summer we are once again offering a course to music therapy students and professionals, entitled Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy: Foundations, Improvisational Resources and Clinical Applications. This four-day course will take place July 13-16 and will cover 1) historical and philosophical foundations of the Nordoff-Robbins approach, 2) musical resources & techniques for improvising, playing and composing, 3) clinical application with a range of clients, and 4) supervisory feedback on participants’ current work. The course is currently full, but we are still accepting applications for a waiting list. For more detailed information, please visit our homepage.


In August we will be hosting a group of Japanese music therapists for 4 days of workshops and lectures. In the past we have had groups from Korea, Scandinavia and other parts of the world come to learn more about our work and expand their own skills, while enjoying the "hot town, summer in the city."


Please let me know if you have any ideas about how we might celebrate our 20th anniversary. It is also the 50th anniversary of Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins's collaboration, and the 100th anniversary of Paul's birth. There's much to celebrate this year!

Peace and Harmony,
Jacqueline