Written by Anna Bocanegra
[Disclaimer: These posts are meant to build repertoire ​and be a stepping stone in how to use these songs within a session. If you have used this song differently or have any other ideas for songs and suggestions use the comment section to create a discussion.]
   
   Deciding to choose the Country genre to be my first post of this series wasn't my idea to say the least, but for someone who disliked country for quite some time, it was best to start with something I knew hardly anything about. If Country music isn't your cup of tea, this post is definitely going to be a great resource for you to start off with and broaden your horizons!

   As a Rising Star at Cracker Barrel, Country music is always blasting. As a Music Therapy student, I listen and observe the music closely, trying to understand how to use these songs in a session should Country music be a preference for future clientele. Though small, these few songs gathered from a Cracker Barrel playlist deemed great use to add to a playlist and begin learning some Country tunes.

Some Things I Want to Sing About by The Grascals
Originally written and recorded by The Osborne Brothers (another artist you should definitely give a listen to), this song has the potential for lyric substitution to get a client engaged in your session by writing about memories, things they like, or even about what is happening in their life. The instrumentation isn't on the "happy" or "sad" side of it's F Major key and can definitely be on the slower side if need be.

Give it a listen on Spotify!

If I Die Young by The Band Perry
The Band Perry created a lovely and somber song about death. Death is a major part of the human life for the living with pondering thoughts, played out scenarios, and questions. This song could be used for grieving about a client's loss, existentialism, and learning to come to terms with death. 

Give it a listen on Spotify!

Buy Me A Boat by Chris Janson
This is one catchy song especially when you get to the chorus. With a catchy chorus comes a great opportunity for small task sequencing for your client to use for every day tasks or problem solving. Just remember to fit your words into a proper duration of the original chorus for it to make sense musically!

Give it a listen on Spotify!

   Now that you've got a couple of different songs to listen to and experiment with, why not broaden your horizons by searching for more Country on Spotify or any other apps you using for music. 

What are some Country songs you've used in session or how else can these songs be used? 

Comment down below!

Are you interested in applying to be a music therapy major? Check out the list of AMTA approved music therapy programs below, and ways that you can contact them!

I could give you statistics, and research on self-care all day long, but it feels more meaningful to answer questions that WE all have about self-care in every day life. Below are a few questions that were submitted by AMTAS members! I want to acknowledge that I am not an expert in self-care, and while I have done a lot of research on it and practice it regularly, self-care is experienced differently by so many people and I welcome a discussion about what works best for you. ​

Just like with anything else in life, practice makes perfect! In my personal experience, I didn’t know exactly what worked for me when I started learning and practicing self-care. It took a lot of trial and error to find self-care routines that didn’t add on to the stressors of every day life. My advice to you would be to do some research about different self-care methods and try each one for a week! Give it a chance, but don’t be discouraged if that method isn’t for you. Every person is different, and every person needs something different to empty their stress cup and fill themselves up with peace and happiness. 

{Image found at joshuahook.com }

Daily self-care doesn’t need to be an elaborate and time-consuming event! Yes, every once in a while, it’s nice to go all out and pamper yourself, but sometimes we truly don’t have time to go “all out” every day. Remember that self-care doesn’t have to be a big gesture! It can be as simple as going to bed earlier, meditating for a few minutes, or going on a short walk. It doesn’t take much to give yourself some much-needed attention, and in the long run doesn’t only help you, but also your clients. Try to do some sort of self-care for yourself every day, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. 

The biggest advice that I have found while researching this question is to have an outlet where you can talk to someone. There is a stigma against seeking out professional help in the helping profession career. We are in this position to help others, and for some reason it is looked down upon for us to have help when we need it. We can’t be our own therapists, and when we run into situations where our past experiences could potentially affect treatment, it is our responsibility to get help! There should be no shame in talking to a professional psychologist, if for nothing else to be able to open up about past experiences and process through any trauma we may not even realize we have. So, go talk to someone about these emotional reactions, and process why you are having them in the first place! Helping yourself cannot only make these feelings disappear, but also make you an even more effective music therapist. 

​Hey AMTAS! It has been nearly 4 months since national conference and it’s crazy to think about how time flies when you are having fun! Before I get in to looking back at conference, I wanted to take a chance to introduce myself, so that you know who is writing these blog posts! 
 
My name is Jordan Marshall, and I am currently in my last semester of coursework at Drury University! I am a vocal primary and have been classically singing since early high school. Along with being secretary of AMTAS, I am also secretary of MWRAMTAS, and president of my school’s music therapy organization, Drury SMTA. After I am done at Drury, I will be doing my internship at “A Place to Be” in Middleburg, VA. Music has always been one of the most important things in my life and finding music therapy and AMTA was one of the best things that has ever happened to me! In my free time, I also really enjoy organizing things and working on my overall wellness through working out and watching Netflix! I am super excited to serve as secretary of AMTAS and hope that through this blog I can keep us all connected! 

The mission of the Student Affairs Advisory Board and AMTAS is to provide guidance, support, and knowledge to the American Music Therapy Association Students and regional boards, be the communication liaison between students and their faculty, act as an educational resource concerning members learning and administration of bylaws, and uphold rules, regulations, implementation of charges, ethical guidelines, and standards of practice. 

It is truly inspiring to see how much all of the different regions of AMTAS contribute to making our profession better! Here are such a FEW of the MANY things that the different regions have accomplished in 2018! 

South-Eastern Report:
The South Eastern Region worked a lot on their communication with all of the schools in their region through social media efforts! They gave out two scholarships in their region, as well as doing a giveaway for an AMTA membership! 

​We are so fortunate that AMTAS has the funds to give away scholarships each year! Each of the people that won this past conference deserved it and deserve some praise, so here are two snaps for them *snaps twice*. Below are the names of the 2018 scholarship winners! 

Scholarship Winners 
·      STARS Undergrad: Sophia Heitkamp 
·      Stars Internship: Emily Zeitz 
·      Stars Graduate: Julian Brill 
·      CBMT Scholarship: Melinda Glass 
·      AMTA Membership: Katherine Long 
·       Regional Support Funds: SER receives $300, GLR receives $100 

Being secretary, I got to request, read, and compile regional reports for the AMTAS Spring 2018 Newsletter. And I have to say, I absolutely loved reading all of them. In all that the regions have done in their reports, I noticed a common denominator- money! There were so many scholarships given away, fundraisers accomplished, new merchandise created, and more! There were so many wonderful ideas that I decided I wanted to write my first blog post on fundraising, a topic that’s quite related to money.
 
Let’s talk about the benefits of fundraising.

• Fundraising equals money, meaning with more of it, we’re able to provide more opportunities for our members. This means conference scholarships.
• Fundraising also assists in the expansion of our student organizations. It creates awareness of our cause on our individual campuses and music schools.
• Fundraising creates community. It allows the current members of our organizations to become closer with each other.
  
  
  

Fundraising can be conducted in many ways ranging from car washes to sponsorships to many other things. The possibilities are endless, so long as we’re realistically and intelligently creative. Let’s talk about a couple fundraisers that our regions have already done so far.
New England Region funded their second annual open mic fundraiser at the LOFT at Berklee College of Music. This fundraiser also included raffle prizes, a bake sale, and a featured performance from the Nate Chung Project! So many great ideas in one, and they raised $200, which went to two conference scholarships. Mid-Atlantic Region successfully sold their new merchandise, coffee mugs. On top of that, their schools also donated the fundraiser money to the Momentum Choir of Western New York. And this are just a couple of our regions. Head to our Spring Newsletter to read more!
 
To top this blog post off, I wanted to congratulate again all the regions who have done such commendable things. Fundraising is never easy and there is never a full guarantee that it’ll be as successful as we want them to be, but I personally am so glad we can depend on each other for inspiration and ideas. I can’t wait to use some of your fundraising ideas for my student organization!