Tilly Mütter has repeated her roving reporter trick from EMTC 2022. This time she talks to various conference attendees at the BAMT conference in Leicester in May 2024, providing a variety of interesting perspectives on the weekend. the theme of the conference was 'About All of Us, For All of Us, By All of Us', with the primary aims of highlighting and promoting the development of Music Therapy. There are some familiar voices here (to Music Therapy Conversations listeners) along with some new ones. In order of appearance, Tilly spoke to: Naviella Dowds, Anthony Voelcker, Kelly Fraser, Duncan Campbell, Marianne Rizkallah, Helen Odell-Miller, Hakeem Leonard, Kirsty Jane, Kendra Bodden and Karen Diamond. A big thanks to all of these contributors! Before that, Tilly and Luke also share their own (somewhat hazy) recollections in the introduction. You can find another view from Marianne Rizkallah on her blog here, and no doubt there are more conference reports incoming. There were some fresh faces at this conference, new formats, and many inspiring moments, in a different sort of venue - plenty to reflect on and learn from!

In episode 91, Davina speaks to Crystal Luk-Worrall about EMDR and music therapy. Crystal Luk-Worrall is a music therapist and EMDR therapist working with the adoption community in London through her private practice Clap and Toot, as well as working with bereaved families through her work at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. She enjoys exploring multi-modality practice and systemic practice. Crystal also supports fellow freelance therapists and newly qualified therapists through her role as BAMT’s freelance network coordinator.

Clap and Toot | Music Therapy

Emi talks with Davina about their recent debut at the BAMT Conference in May 2024 where they spoke about their experiences of being a deaf music therapist.

Here are Emi's words of introduction:

My name’s Emi and my pronouns are they/them. I’m a deaf music therapist who currently works in older people’s mental health in the NHS. I graduated from the University of Derby in 2022 with my master’s in music therapy, where I became passionate about making music therapy more accessible to deaf people. Ever since, I’ve been working on publishing my independent scholarship on how my experience of music impacts my work, and I hope to use my career and research to platform the different ways disabled folks access music and music therapy.

This is the recording of the live discussion from the BAMT conference at the Curve Theatre Leicester on 18 May 2024. The conference panel was Luke Annesley, Rachel Darnley-Smith, Tilly Mutter and Davina Vencatasamy. Surprise special guests were Wendy Magee and Joy Gravestock, who happened to be in the audience, and excerpts were included from previous episodes from Wendy and Joy, along with Denise Wong and Mercedes Pavlicevic. The episode includes discussion about the genesis of the podcast, the processes of interviewing and being interviewed, and closer examination of excerpts from episodes selected by the panellists. Thanks to everyone who attended in person, and to BAMT for a wonderful and enriching conference.

Karen D. Goodman, PhD., Professor Emerita of Music, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA., has been the primary figure in designing and developing both the former undergraduate and graduate music therapy programs at Montclair over forty years. Professor Goodman’s research-based clinical work, at ten clinical settings, includes music therapy practice in child and adult psychiatry and developmental disabilities at New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center, Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center-NYC and educational programs in the Greater New York area.

Currently an Associate Editor for Psychology of Music, Professor Goodman has served as Editor of Music Therapy: The Journal of the American Association for Music Therapy and other journals in education. Her publications include two widely acclaimed books: Music Therapy Groupwork with Special Needs Children: The Evolving Process (2007) and Music Therapy Education and Training: From Theory to Practice (2011) as well as two edited books International Perspectives in Music Therapy Education and Training: Adapting to a Changing World (2015) and Developing Issues in Music Therapy Education and Training: A Plurality of Views (2023). A frequent presenter at international music therapy conferences over many years, she lectures and consults internationally on topics related to her clinical work and higher education and the relationships between these, most recently her lifespan developmental stage model for music therapy supervision (Goodman, 2023). Her outreach services for clinical supervision, program design, editing, teaching and both book and grant review are described here: karendgoodmanconsulting.com

References

Arieti, S., (1955) Interpretation of schizophrenia.

Goodman, K.D. (2023) The Music Therapy Supervisor: Developmental Perspectives. Aalborg, Denmark: Aalborg University

Goodman, K.D. (Ed.) (2023) Developing Issues in World Music Therapy Education and Training. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Goodman, K.D. (Ed.) (2015) International Perspectives in Music Therapy Education and Training: Adapting to a Changing World. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Goodman, K.D. (2011) Music Therapy Education and Training: Theory to Practice. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Goodman, K.D (2007) Music Therapy Groupwork with Special Needs Children: The Evolving Process. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Goodman, K.D. (2015) Book Publication in Music Therapy (In) K.D. Goodman (Ed.) International Perspectives on Music Therapy Education and Training: Adapting to a Changing World. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas.

Kaufman, D. L. & Goodman, K.D. Cracking Up and Back Again: Transformation through Music and Poetry. In Z. Li & T.L. Long, (Eds.) (2010) The Meaning Management Challenge: Making Sense of Health, Illness and Disease, Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp. 117-129.

Goodman, K.D. (1981) Music Therapy, Chapter 29. In S. Arieti (Ed.) The American Handbook of Psychiatry. New York: Basic Books

Goodman, K.D. (2008) Cracking Up and Back Again: Book Review. Arts in Psychotherapy. 35(2)

Goodman, K.D. (1989) Music Therapy Evaluation of Emotionally Disturbed. Children. Arts in Psychotherapy. 16(2), 179-192.

Goodman, K.D. (1986) Book reviews. Journal of Music Therapy, 23 (1).

Holly Shirra is a qualified music therapist who holds her focus on helping people connect in community and express themselves creatively and authentically. With classical piano training from a young age, Holly discovered a passion for free improvisation while studying music therapy, which she completed in 2020.

To help her understand further how people spontaneously create in groups, Holly founded 'Cambridge Music Improv' - a community project that gathers people from diverse backgrounds in public spaces to improvise music together. This supportive environment allows participants to tap into their creative side and find catharsis and self-expression while building connections with others.

Alongside her community work, Holly has extensive experience in musical education, teaching piano to children since the age of 15. She continues to share her love of music through teaching as a regular part of her work.

In her spare time these days, Holly likes to find balance through cooking, rock climbing, meditation, and spending time in nature.

Here is a link to Holly's documentary about the group:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38w-ygwKaIY&t=43s

Jessica Leza is a board-certified music therapist, author, and multimedia artist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of North Texas and a Master of Arts in Music Therapy from Texas Woman’s University. Leza’s music therapy scholarship and advocacy centers around neurodiversity, disability justice, culture, and LGBTQ+ liberation and includes publications in The Neurodiversity Reader, Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy, and The Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy, as well as the solo-authored An Introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. Leza’s multimedia works have been showcased in film and arts festivals across the US and Europe, China, and South America.

Luke and Jessica discussed her process of becoming a music therapist and her recent experiences of clinical practice, followed by the concepts of neuroqueering and neurocosmopolitanism as they might apply to music therapy.

e-Book: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1492591757/an-introduction-to-neurodiversity-and

Paperback: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1510338925/paperback-an-introduction-to

https://jessicaleza.com/

References

Hadley, S. 2021 Sociocultural Identities in Music Therapy. United States: Barcelona Publishers.

Lee, C. 2024 Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.

Leza, J. (n.d.). An Introduction to Neurodiversity and Autistic Culture for (Music) Therapists. United States: La Migdalia Press.

Walker, N. (2021). Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities. United States: Autonomous Press.