Continuing Music Therapy Education

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The Master of Music Therapy Program (MMT) at Alverno College is excited to offer continuing education programs to meet the diverse needs of our profession. There are several ways in which you may choose to engage with our learning community.

1. Focused Learning and Specialization Through Our Digital Badge Options

Alverno is known for innovation and teaching. The MMT Program exemplifies this through personalized assignments and unique and relevant course offerings. Earn a Digital Badge of Advanced Study in specialized content areas by completing 4-5 graduate credits in two consecutive related courses. Board certified music therapists will earn graduate credit and do not need to apply or be accepted to the graduate program to earn a certificate. These credits will transfer in should you choose to apply for the full degree.

MUSIC THERAPY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MMT 668 MT Business: Development & Best Practices (2 credits) MMT 670 Topics: Grant Writing (2 credits) Learn more about this badge at Credly.	MUSIC THERAPY LEADERSHIP MMT 660 Advocacy in Music Therapy (2 credits) MMT 662 Leadership in Music Therapy (2 credits) Learn more about this badge at Credly.
ADVANCED MUSIC THERAPY CLINICAL PRACTICE MMT 630 Counseling Skills for Music Therapists (3 credits) or MMT 610 Advanced Music Therapy Theory I (3 credits) and MMT 632 Advanced Clinical Practice in Music Therapy (2 credits) Learn more about this badge at Credly.	MUSIC AND NEUROSCIENCE MMT 614 Music and Neuroscience (3 credits) MMT 662 Leadership in Music Therapy (2 credits) Learn more about this badge at Credly.

To apply, send this form to Becky Engen, Program Director.

2. Professional Development

All MT-BCs and graduate equivalency students (with permission of instructor) are eligible for any individual course in the MMT program. You will earn graduate credits without obligation to take any other courses. The non-degree student application is here.

Registration is open for summer 2023 courses, all online, starting May 22. All MT-BCs are invited to take a course without application to the degree program.

*courses partially fulfill requirements for a digital badge

Upcoming courses, 2023:

Summer (5/22 - 7/5)
MMT 642 Vocal Health (2 credits)
MMT 670D Topics: Trauma Informed Care (2 credits)

Fall (8/25-12/14)
MMT 610 Music Therapy Theory (3 credits)*
MMT 660 Professional Advocacy in MT (2 credits)*
MMT 664 Supervision and Pedagogy (2 credits)

* Partial fulfillment of a digital badge

3. Free Webinars on Third Thursdays

Join us at 7 p.m. CT for free, one-hour CMTE webinars. Certificates of attendance will be awarded to those who register in advance. Information to claim one (1) CMTE is included. Monthly topics will be posted as they become available.

Upcoming

July 13, 7-8 p.m. CT

Topic: Advocacy

How do you talk about music therapy? Are you putting your best foot forward and considering the context? Advocacy means many things and they all come down to your communication. Leslie Henry, MM, MT-BC, assistant professor, director of Music Therapy at Alverno, has a long history of advocacy experience both personally and professionally. With years of clinical and educator experience as well as leadership for the AMTA Professional Advocacy Committee, she is worth listening to. If you have heard her speak on this topic before, you have not heard everything she has to share so please join us on the SECOND Thursday of July.

Pre-register with this link.

Aug 17, 7-8 p.m. CT

Topic: Game Night!

Join Becky Engen, PhD, MT-BC, director of Graduate Music Therapy at Alverno, for a round of MT topical games. Test your memory and creativity for a night of collegiality. What you will need: access to an accompaniment instrument (your choice), paper and pen, markers, scissors, and tape if you have it and want to go all in!

Pre-register with this link.

Sept 21, 7-9 p.m. CT

In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn to apply selected analytic and decision-making models to CBMT test questions and to lessen the impact of test anxiety so that you can feel confident in your preparation and earn the certification you deserve. Designed for pre-professional music therapy students, the two-hour session will focus on building not only testing skills, but also honest self-assessment abilities, which combine to help you tailor your preparation to your own needs.

Presenter: ML Cogar, MA
ML Cogar has taught communication courses, test question analysis, and study methods for the past 20+ years to undergraduate and graduate students alike. ML synthesizes study techniques from close editing, dramaturgy, and rhetoric with industry practices for standardized test question design to help students "close-read to succeed." Licensure support areas include CBMT, NCLEX, PRAXIS II, FORT, GRE, and LSAT.

Pre-register with this link.

Oct 19, 7-8 p.m. CT

Topic: Counseling Skills for Music Therapists

Have you ever been working with a client and just don't know what to say or how to respond when they share something with you? Have you ever wondered how to get clients to open up or talk more? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then please come check out this webinar. Join Lisa Gallagher as she explores these topics and introduces the course on counseling skills for music therapists that will be offered this coming spring.

Presenter: Lisa Gallagher, PhD, MT-BC is an Adjunct Faculty Member at Alverno. She also works at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio where she is a researcher and music therapist. Lisa holds a MA in Counseling and a PhD in Health Psychology, so she has received extra training in counseling skills that she has applied throughout her professional career.

Pre-register with this link.

Past Events

January 19: Recent Master of Music Therapy graduate, Ellisa Morris, presented "Songs from the Heart," sharing her graduate research and a clinical overview of an innovative music therapy intervention: Amplified Cardiopulmonary Recordings (ACPR). She presented ideas for how to facilitate ACPR in your work and clinical considerations for excellence, ethics, and technology in music therapy practice. Check out some of her work here. Ellisa Morris is a board certified music therapist from Missouri. She completed her undergraduate Music Therapy Degree from Drury University and a Master of Music Therapy Degree from Alverno College. In addition, she holds certifications as NICU-MT and NMT. Ellisa currently works in private practice and medical music therapy settings.

February 16: Jennifer Sokira, MMT, LCAT, MT-BC, adjunct faculty for Alverno’s Master in Music Therapy program, presented "Safety and Coping Skills in Trauma-Informed Music Therapy Practice," when participants were invited to consider and reflect on their own assumptions around safety and safe practice, as well as safety from our client's perspective. Sokira is also part-time faculty at Quinnipaic University. She is the Founding Director of Connecticut Music Therapy Services, where her clinical work focuses on people who are healing from trauma and complex PTSD using music psychotherapy methods. Her advocacy for increased knowledge and training for music therapists working with clients who have experienced trauma lead her to presenting regionally, nationally and internationally on trauma-informed practice and disaster response, as well as developing curriculum and teaching CMTE courses with EnlightenCE, where she is Director of Educational Programming. Here recent publications include Considerations For Music Therapy in Long-Term Response to Mass Tragedy and Trauma in Music Therapy Today and she is co-author of The Resilience Framework for Trauma-Informed Music Therapy, in Trauma-Informed Practice in Music Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide (Routledge). She is a Fellow of the Association of Music and Imagery (FAMI).

Mar 16, 7-8 p.m. CT
Topic: Tools to Embody Emotional Intentions for Healthy and Expressive Singing. Learners explored with instructor Dr. Sarah Richardson breathing and other physical patterns associated with core emotions, drawing from the Alba Emoting method. The course reviewed good posture habits and practice emotional breathing patterns to convey intentions with a healthy tone. Learners discussed which physicalizations may help or hinder a singer/therapist's intentions. Dr. Richardson is the voice instructor and Performance Coordinator at Alverno College. With a strong interest in vocal health, Sarah conducts workshops for area high school and church choirs. She is an active performer in the Milwaukee area and holds degrees from Viterbo University, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Madison. Her doctoral dissertation project centered on the commission, premiere, and recording of a song cycle to honor her family’s farming roots in north central Wisconsin.

Apr 20, 7-8 p.m. CT

Topic: Neurologic Music Therapy Fundamentals and What to Expect from NMT Training. Music therapists are trained from day one to have a good understanding of the relationship between music and the brain. Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) takes that core knowledge and goes a step further to show how neuroscience paired with intentional use of music can produce measurable outcomes through a set of standardized clinical techniques. Note, NMT Training and Fellowship are available on the Alverno campus this June! Presenter Carolann Helding, MT-BC, WMTR is a Neurologic Music Therapy Fellow, registered through the State of Wisconsin (WMTR). She provides music therapy services for Music Therapy Services of Central Wisconsin, LLC in hospital settings specializing in adult oncology, palliative care, and neurologic rehabilitation. Carolann also sees individuals in community and home settings.

May 18, 7-8 p.m. CT

Topic: Starting a Music Therapy Practice in Israel as an American Immigrant. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to try to establish a music therapy presence in a new country from the ground up? How about if you didn't speak the country's native language, with many other differences in the culture and profession of music therapy? Ben Pernick, a Board-Certified Music Therapist who moved to Israel in 2022, shared his experience and eye-opening professional and cultural considerations that are relevant to anyone interested in music therapy. Pernick is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and Berklee graduate, and is currently enrolled in Alverno College's Master of Music Therapy program. He specializes in music therapy with older adults and children with ASD. He recently moved from NYC to Tel Aviv, Israel. He is also a singer/songwriter, baseball writer, and stand-up comic.

June 15, 7-8 p.m. CT
Topic: To Be or Not to Be: Grad School is the Question. Education today is a huge investment with the actual value of an advanced degree in music therapy too often questioned. As an experienced educator, Becky Engen shared (with permission) anecdotes from the field, not just graduates of her programs. What should you expect from a graduate program and how do you determine which program is best suited to your learning needs? This session discussed priorities for learning and potential outcomes and how to sift through the many programs eager to enroll new students. Engen, PhD, MT-BC is Director of Graduate Music Therapy at Alverno. A passionate advocate for the profession and life-long learning, she teaches undergraduate through doctoral students online and in person for credit or CMTEs. She is an experienced author, educator, presenter, and member/former co-chair of AMTA's APAC Committee.

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