Staff Presentations – SUNY Fredonia March 2025
Two of our music therapists were invited to give presentations at SUNY Fredonia’s Mini Music Therapy Conference on March 1, 2025!
Casey Kunzer - “School-Based Music Therapy”
I was so grateful and happy to return to SUNY Fredonia for a third year to present at their Mini Music Therapy Conference. Speaking about music therapy is truly one of my favorite things to do, and I am consistently reminded of what an amazing career and community I have when I attend and present at conferences. This year, my colleague (Lauren Tropper, MT-BC) and I spoke to students, interns, and professional music therapists about school-based music therapy. While a college degree in music therapy absolutely prepares you for working in a wide variety of places, there are some specific aspects of being a school-based music therapist that you tend to learn on the job! Some topics we touched on were:
Types of Employment: There are a few different ways that music therapists typically find work in schools. Districts with a large enough caseload may hire their own music therapist. However, many districts, especially small/rural districts, may not have enough students who qualify for music therapy services to be able to employ their own music therapists. That is where companies like Harmony Creative Therapy come in, who send itinerant therapists to multiple schools so that more students who need music therapy services have the opportunity to receive them. This also creates more job opportunities for music therapists, so it’s a win-win!
Types of Services: There are lots of different ways music therapy is offered within schools. Some districts offer building-level/curriculum music therapy, which are not tied to any specific student and often address classroom/life-skills goals. Other students receive individual or group music therapy on their Individualized Education Plan or IEP, which targets goals specific to that student. Additionally, some students receive music therapy consultation services, which can be building-level or through an IEP. This allows a music therapist to work with a student and/or their treatment team to provide materials to be used outside of the music therapy sessions. There are so many ways for students to benefit from music therapy services!
Planning Interventions: Most music therapy students are very concerned about how to plan for a full-time caseload as a music therapist. We shared interventions that we use with our school-aged students and showed how one song can be used to target a variety of different goals, such as communication, socialization, academics, and more. Especially as an itinerant therapist who travels, the more I can do with a smaller number of materials/instruments, the easier it is. On top of that, I often find I am a much more effective therapist when using a smaller number of songs for a wide variety of things because I am more mentally organized.
Documentation: Strangely, I love talking about documentation. Each year school districts and special education programs typically require a significant amount of documentation written in a specific way for students that receive services. Additionally, most students have an annual meeting where everyone on their team gives an update on their progress and makes recommendations for the next year. Although it might not be the first skill you think of when you hear “music therapist”, strong writing and public speaking skills are necessary to be a music therapist, especially one who works in schools. It is something that I’m continually working on, and presenting at these conferences helps a lot.
I hope our presentation helped answer questions and inspire some potential future music therapists to want to explore a career in school-based music therapy. I love my job and had so much fun presenting at Fredonia’s Mini Music Therapy Conference!
Robin Neary - “Harmony in Collaboration: Exploring Music Therapy Consultation and Co-Treatment”
It was so exciting to return to my alma mater, connect with fellow music therapists, and present for students, interns, and new professionals! My presentation was titled “Harmony in Collaboration: Exploring Music Therapy Consultation and Co-Treatment” and ironically enough, I came up with the title before our new name Harmony Creative Therapy had been announced! I highlighted the “what, how, and why’s” of collaborating with other professionals such as physical and occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers and psychologists, and more.
I found examples of videos, case studies, and literature discussing the benefits of providing consultation and co-treatment with music therapy in a variety of settings, including:
increased understanding of client needs
cost-effectiveness
broader resources and support
consistency across settings
advocacy and awareness
referral opportunities
and most of all, overall well-being of clients.
Consultation can be provided (depending on availability and need) in addition to or in lieu of direct services such as individual or group music therapy sessions. They are provided within treatment teams to present additional information, insights, and resources to help the client(s) maintain consistency and generalize skills across various settings. I provided examples of how I have provided consultations with treatment teams in schools, such as attending team meetings and providing resources such as dedicated documents and lists of specific songs and videos to help students in other settings besides our direct sessions.
Co-treatment is a collaborative strategy of intervention facilitated by therapists from different disciplines treating simultaneously during a single session to optimize patient outcomes. I provided examples through videos of a client in a hospital setting receiving music therapy co-treatments with physical therapy and with occupational therapy, as well as discussing my own experiences of co-treating with speech-language pathologists in both district and BOCES settings.
The keys to being successful in collaborative settings are nearly identical to those of being a music therapist: flexibility, communicating with others, and navigating limits in respective scopes of practice and professional training bounds.
It was an honor to represent Harmony Creative Therapy and to present to the next generation of professionals in this amazing field!