musicatwork - the sound approach to training

Fill in the blank..........

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:20:00 +0000

It's been ages since I last posted...wedding, honeymoon, Christmas all took priority. Anyway I have a free moment so I thought I'd write something new. Musicatwork is going great guns. We are just at the stage of employing additional music therapists at various places in the UK. This is wonderful, as I have been creating lots of new work opportunities, most of which are for other people to do. So if you want to send Musicatwork a good vibe/prayer in the next few days then make it for an abundance of work and a successful thriving company.

I married a Buddhist, and have become very tuned into their view that intentionality and "calling for it" really makes a difference. If the Universe or Life or God etc knows what you want (and you don't cancel the order just because something happened or you got upset coz it didn't come quickly enough) the results you want really come true. And, calling for gratitude, or generousity or abundance as I have been doing means that I am called to become those things as the first step to seeing them manifest in the world.

It's great!! And btw if anyone os looking for a great musical mad weird wonderful holiday...let me recommend Cuba!!

Using Laughter & Laughter Clubs

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:19:00 +0000

Last year, I went along to a laughter club in Bristol, UK. I was nervous and quite excited, but really didn't know what to expect. Joe Hoare was the facilitator, and over the course of about 2 hours, the group went through a bunch of exercises including some basic body awareness and relaxation techniques, mixed with a good deal of facial warm up and smiling exercises. As we kept going, and pulling funny faces at each other, our laughter began to rise, and soon enough the 10 adults were reduced to gaffawing heaps of aching stomach muscules with tears running down our faces....it was, actually very very funny and very very releasing!

So I was looking forward to attending a Laughter Facilatation Course, run by The Laughter Network, in London at the end of September. Again, some familiar faces, and familiar exercises grounding us in tools to enable people to laugh. Actually I was suprised to watch myself getting very serious over the course of the weekend..."I've come here to learn about the serious job of laughing"...which was an interesting response!!

Anyway, now about two weeks since, and I have been putting some of those techniques into training sessions that Musicatwork have been running, with a group of Life Coaches firstly, and with a major building society here in Wales, whom I'm delivering team building training for.

It's been amazing...the stress release, and the feelings of relaxation after the laughter is powerful. But what touches me the most is when participants say that this was the first time they have laughed in ages, months for some of them. Such a simple thing, such a direct connection with that part of us that is light, playful and willing to let go of ego/what we look like/what others may think of us, and just be.

The opportunity to laugh as a way of life is to create joy, calmness, fun and sore belly muscles! Research has shown that as kids we laugh about 300 times per day, and as adults we laugh about 10-15 times a day. Laughter is your opportunity and was mine, to begin to laugh at life, at ourselves and re-connect with the lightness that is essentially human being.

As Dr Kataria, the founder of Laughter Clubs says, "fake it, fake it til you make it!"

Making Teams Work: "How can you tell when a team needs some teambuilding?"

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 19:22:00 +0000

Making Teams Work: "How can you tell when a team needs some teambuilding?"

This article may give you some clues as to what to look out for, and then what action to take to help develop your teams.

Interactivity

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:17:00 +0000

As much as I love creating this blog, my intention is that it is a forum for discussion, information from around the world, and dialogue. So...my request is that if you're reading it, make a comment, or email me with topics that you would like to be covered, or articles that you would like to have considered for posting on the blog.

What are your experiences of arts-based therapy/training? Are you a practioneer? Do you have a point of view? Have you or are you a client taking part in arts-based therapy/training?

Lets use this space to create miracles!

CNN highlights the benefits of Music Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:50:00 +0000

In a recent CNN report that focused on music therapy in the United States, the news channel highlighted the case of a teenager who has been receiveing regular music therapy sessions with a therapist from Boston's Berklee College of Music. With the BBC in the UK, CNN in the States (and worldwide) and other news organisations picking up on and educating people, governments, organisations on the benefits of music therapy, its acceptance as a valid form of medical & social intervention is increasing.

Often I run ice brakers sessions, or team building days with a bunch of strangers. Then through the first moments of embarrassed giggling, jokes and excited anxiety comes their music. Tentative or bold the music breaks down their barriers and social and emotional connections are made. Acceptance and warmth starts to occur, and people are genuinely amazed at the sense of relatedness and intimacy they have created.

With all the wars currently happening in the world, and the recent conflict in Israel/Lebanon, peaceful dialogue through music is a way to create harmony, compassion and a sense of a shared experience of the world, whomever we are, whatever our religion or social background, race or creed.

The aftermarth of the 1990s war in the former Yugoslavia has seen music therapists and musicians including Pavorotti create music schools and orchestras to unite the people and build music then social then community bridges. Music Works...Duh!

My deep intention in life is to continue to use music, and more widely use The Arts as a tool for creating a world in which while peace may not always be present, war and violence are absent, and people are respected and fully able to live out their greatness and potential.

Don't Label Me ... or Yourself!

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 06:46:00 +0000

In recent weeks, I have been talking with Susan Bernstein from Work From Within, based on the West Coast of the States. We have shared ideas about the way music and the body and emotions have connections, and that often bodily movement/dance is a way to access blocked or stored emotions, released or acknowledged within a musical context. Somehow we wanted to take this forward and I asked Susan if she would write a post for this blog...which she did, and is below. Susan's blog and her website are both fantastic and a real source of encouragement, knowledge and information. Her post is below.....thank you Susan!

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I've been having an interesting set of conversations across the ocean with Dan Thomas of Music At Work based in Wales, UK, who does corporate training using music. (He's got a great blog, too, The Sound Approach -- clever!) Both trained as therapists (Dan in music therapy, me in psychotherapy), we are using our expertise in non-traditional ways. But, really, what are "traditional" ways?

Dan asked me to share an article for his blog, and we got to talking about how it should be about "art therapy." But then, am I an artist? And what about art therapy? What do I know about "art"?

The trouble here...LABELS.

What we choose to call something, someone, or an experience is really important. Our mind tends to categorize. We like to find patterns. That's all well and good -- until putting a label on something blocks us. It's like being boxed in, unable to get out of the confinement of the label.

Here's a common label trap: Most people I know who, when approached at a party with the line, "What do you do?" start by saying something like "I'm an engineer." "I'm a publisher." "I'm a marketing manager." Then starts the chit-chat about what we've been doing at work. Snooze-a-rama. This boredom and self-limitation, I believe, is fostered by labels. It's like we want to be easily understood. We want to fit in.

When I was in high school, the ultimate time of needing to "fit in," my parents were strapped for cash. I went to the equivalent of Beverly Hills High in the posh 90210 zip code, and dressing right was a ticket to popularity. I wanted a pair of Calvin Klein jeans soooo badly, just to show I was part of the "in" crowd. I ultimately saved up enough money and bought that pair, which I wore over and over again, much to my embarrassment.

Yet, somewhere deep down, I knew this was all wrong. I knew I didn't need the jeans to make me popular. But they were a short-hand. A visible sign. An external symbol.

As an adult, I'm much more prone to "watch it" when it comes to labels, because I know that they are not exactly helpful. Labels can limit us. Both Daniel and I spoke about how damaging labels can be in psychotherapy. "You're bipolar" a therapist tells her patient, and this crushes his self-esteem. Instead, it might be more productive, and humane, to tell that patient, "it seems that you have a constellation of symptoms that has these characteristics...does that feel right to you?" "Well, if it does, you can know that this happens in X% of the population, and it's treatable. These symptoms are generally known as belonging to bipolar constellation, and here's what we can do about them."

Instead of slapping the label on the person, we describe a series of characteristics. And, how we describe them matters, too.

The issue of labeling came up again when I was telling Dan about a recent time when I facilitated a workshop called Set Your Dreams in Motion. In that workshop, I help people to embody their dreams, and use movement, music, body awareness, visualization, and a host of other techniques (yes, labels again!) to energize dreams they have and help them find their next steps.

When we talked about her dream, one of the participants, who has a dream of starting her own business, quickly noticed "Oooh, my stomach is tight," She immediately started to say, "Well, that tightness means I'm nervous. And I've always been nervous. So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Stop! Label patrol! You're busted!"

"You've been caught attaching the label of what your sensation means. You said that the tightness means you're nervous. " Don't be so sure!"

Well, I didn't really bust her like that. What I did do: I asked her if she could leave the story behind, and just bring her attention to the tightness, and to let it move or shift or get stronger or weaker, but just to notice and not do anything to intentionally change the sensation and not make any interpretation of the tightness. Just let it do it's own thing, and describe what was true.

Wow! What emerged next? The woman sighed, and then put a hand on her tight stomach area. She got very quiet, and said, "Oh, the tightness is less now. Huh. There's a kind of rumbling. Now that area is all warm. Oooh, and it gets sort of cooler." Perfect! These are truths...facts, not interpretations. No judgments. Wonderful! This leaves room for movement...both literal and metaphoric.

Then this future business owner said, "Oh, it's actually telling me that I don't need to be so tight. I can loosen up on myself, give myself more time and permission to make mistakes with this dream."

Where did that wisdom come from? It certainly didn't come from her know-it-all, gotta-be-right brain. It didn't come from her flamboyant ego. It emerged from within her, because she allowed it.

Dan and I talked about how powerful it can be to just "be with" an issue or feeling as it is emerging. To notice it's essential qualities, but to avoid getting attached to some label, a set of words.

One of the joys Dan and I both find in music is the freedom from words. You can dance to music, hum to music, just hang out and "be" with music. So, I invite you to do the same with yourself. When you catch yourself wanting to put a label on yourself ("I'm stupid," "I'm just a junior manager," "I'm only a student," "Yeah, I'm a klutz"), get some music and stomp and sway and glide the way you feel. Make nonsense sounds. Play!

And, please, stay away from labels!

What is Music Therapy?

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 21:34:00 +0000

I had an email from a woman in Madrid, who works as a music therapist and her email made me think it would be a good thing to try and write about what music therapy is, and where it happens and what happens in a typical session.

Music therapy is founded on the principal that human beings have the capacity to respond to sound/music, and that within a music therapy session(s), people can explore what is important to them through the medium of music. Music therapy does not require any previous musical knowledge or musical ability. Sessions often last about 45minutes each, and depending on the needs of the client may happen weekly for a month or so, or last many years.

Lots of my work has been with children with autism, cerebral palsy and adults with mental health conditions. Music therapy takes place in educational, healthcare, forensic (prisons/secure units), and residential care settings to name a few. My work has increasingly been about developing new areas of practice, such as within the corporate world, or within prisons. I have been a music therapist for four years, having qualified in 2002.

There are a number of different strands or approaches to music therapy, one of the most widely known is Nordoff-Robbins. Other approaches such as psychodynamic music therapy are as widely used, but perhaps less well known. Most music therapy uses musical improvisation as a basis for working with clients. Sometimes words are used, in the creation and/or singing of songs, but this really depends on how each session develops.

There are music therapy associations in most countries. Here are just a few of their links.

American Music Therapy Association
Association of Professional Music Therapists (UK)
Canadian Music Therapy Association
Bristish Society of Music Therapy
Australian Music Therapy Association
New Zealand Music Therapy Association
Voices (free online international forum)

Music Therapy Aids Healing

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:47:00 +0000

As a qualified music therapist myself, I see day in and day out that music therapy interventions dramatically impact people's health, well-being, social intergration and self of themselves. Musicatwork was created in order that music therapy sessions and training based on music therapy practices can be delivered in educational, healthcare, corporate and forensic settings.

The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has been using music more and more as a highly effective clinical intervention. Professor Paul Robertson says, "We are approaching the point where a doctor would legitimately be negligent not to actually recommend music as a therapeutic intervention". The BBC have the full report online.

Across the board Creative Arts Therapies are increasingly playing their true role in treating and supporting people with a whole range of conditions such as depression, autism, cancer, PND, and ensuring that emotional healing from accidents or traumas can be healed alongside any physical damage.

Isn't time that the Creative Arts Therapies were as widely used and recognised as "convientional" medicine?!

New Concepts in Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:48:00 +0000

I was reading around some Google results about how innovation breds success. Looking at the Business Council of Australia's site, and an article which specifically highlighted the need to develop creativity, cultural understanding and teamwork as the fundamental building blocks to success.

Their report says, under the heading "ADVOCATE THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEMS IN DELIVERING THE CAPABILITIES FOR INNOVATION SUCCESS.....that.......The development within the workforce of not only strong technical and applied capabilities but also the skills and capabilities associated with communication, teamwork, problem solving, ongoing learning, creativity, cultural understanding, entrepreneurship and leadership are vital building blocks for business innovation success." (The full report is available as a PDF from their website)

This really highlights the need for all businesses to utilise The Arts as a key cornerstone to sustained and sustainable growth. The Arts offer a pathway to more deeply exploring the impacts and positive repercussions of corporate social responsibility, among other key elements in the dynamic between businesses, consumers, resource providers and Government.

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:28:00 +0000

Lime Grind

Watch the video

My band, "michael's breakfast" are supporting Roy Ayers in Cardiff on the 11th July, and this is gonna be our opening number!

The meaning of your communication is the response you get

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:39:00 +0000

"The meaning of your communication is the response you get"

I found this quote on a site devoted to metaphor. I've been reading and talking to other trainers and coaches, some of whom use NLP about the use of metaphor as a training tool. Now this excites me like a free lunch or a gift horse whose mouth is open.

The quote at the top of this post allows me to really get responsible for the communications I deliver. And I feel there is just so many levels of understanding and application in that quote that it really blows my mind. In a way, music, and to some extent drama and visual art, are metaphors for our thoughts feelings and experiences. Developing this method of training could really engage people who use visual ways of learning.

Improvisation Vs Structure

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:10:00 +0000

I have recently started work at a prison, working with prisoners with mental health conditions and learning difficulties, in two seperate groups. As a foundation for the sessions, I am using African drums, and drumming within a teaching style, even though the context is very clearly therapeutic. Having a foundation such as the drumming provides a safe, masculine and creative basis for the work. I thought that prisoners could then develop their musical and verbal self expression away from the drumming, should they wish, and return it to as and when they choose.

The initial sessions have been amazing, and really exceeded my expectations, and my fears. We used the blues as a song structure after the drumming naturally developed into vocalising/chanting. The blues gives a really great strong and set structure, and also a free space for improvisation within the lyrics.

For example:

I woke up this morning (structure)
Got outta bed (structure)
I miss my baby (improvised)
can't get her outta my head (improvised)

I woke up this morning
Got outta bed
how my gonna keep going
without a place to rest my head

(these lyrics are mine, and not the prisoners own work, to protect confidentiality)

This technique was first introduced to me at the 2005 World Congress of Music Therapy in Brisbane by Joseph Moreno. Further info about it and him can be found through the following links

microblues

It seems in this work, and I wondered if in our lives and businesses too, keeping open a space that is free and available for improvisation within a firm structured foundation makes amazing things happen, or at least keeps open the possibility of them happening.

The Unknown at Work

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 19:47:00 +0000

"you know you're in trouble when you lose sight of the unknown"
Paul Shumann

Creativity at Work

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 19:15:00 +0000

This post is taken from the blog Creativity at Work

"How will the practice of creativity be a driving force in the future world of work? What role can we play to take advantage of the current uncertainty to leverage creative thinking? What are the links between strategic and creative thinking? How do you totally engage the brain in the creative process? Come and engage your brain in this thought provoking session that will stimulate your thinking!" Listen to Interview with AnnHerrmann-Nehdi.

Ann Herrmann-Nehdi is CEO of Herrmann International, publisher of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) which is based on extensive research on thinking and the brain. Multiple applications of whole brain technology include creativity, strategic thinking, problem solving, management and leadership, teaching and learning, self-understanding, communication and team/staff development......continue reading...

Training Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 19:49:00 +0000

If you're interested in finding out more about Arts Based Training, or you'd like to bring it into your workplace, you can attend an introduction seminar run by Arts & Business.

Instruments

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:58:00 +0000

I just got some more lovely new instruments from Choroi, a dutch firm, who hand make their instruments. The thing about handmade instruments is that they have so much life about the sound...it's really alive with harmonics and is rich and warm. The lovely hand-held harps and bourden lyres simple rock! Its true that you get what you pay for. I did some work for the Vale of Glamorgan County Council and after some initial anxiety about the instruments the participants were amazed at the music that they created, using these harps among others.

Have a look at the pictures...

Relax...and listen

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 06:50:00 +0000

There's this amazing book that I bought ages ago, but have recently "discovered" again. It's called "The Listening Book" by W.A. Mathieu. And no surprise....but it's all about listening, and discovering our own music. For example, have you ever really listened to the rhythm of your jeans brushing against themselves as you walk? Or hummed along to the drone of the Hoover when vacuuming?

A great tip for a 2 minute relaxation moment any where is to listen....close you eyes, shuffle around til you are sitting or standing comfortably and then really listen...listen rather than just hearing...listening is active whereas hearing is passive...so just listen to the world around you, listen to your body, your mind, your breath, the bumble bee, or the clock......and breath.

In less than 2 minutes you could be peaceful and relaxed simply through active listening...try it it's wonderful.

Finding a business partner...are you there?

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:14:00 +0000

I find myself in the exciting position of looking for a business partner. Normally I tend to be very independent, and go it alone, liking to be in control but rather lonely and through with constant self generation. And now I can see that isn't going to grow the business to continue to make the difference that it currently does, and which I want it to do in the future.

So if you or someone you know is inspired by what we do, and would like to join us - GET IN TOUCH!

For me the most important thing is that we share a vision for musicatwork, expanding, creating developing.

Areas which need developing are: marketing, marketing and marketing!

So if you're up for working and creating an inspiring business GET IN TOUCH!

music at work?

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:22:00 +0000

This is taken from an article in The Guardian newspaper.

"It's wrong not to be allowed to listen to music at work," says Professor Simon Majaro. Majaro specialises in creativity at Cranfield School of Management; but he also takes music into schools, as founder of the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust.
"There is a lot of evidence that one can improve creativity through the senses," he says. "If we could make people listen to Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, we could improve teamwork and productivity."

Indeed, people have written books on the subject: The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell is greatly praised. At the Industrial Society, a spokesperson says that maybe offices are missing a trick with music. Music therapy has acknowledged benefits and music is well known to have an effect on the brain - it can be used to stimulate or to relax people. So perhaps a bit more research would be a good idea.

What do you think? Does music help to focus your mind to the task in hand, or put you off and chill you past the point of caring?!

What use is a music degree if you don't make the concert platform?

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:05:00 +0000

There are hundreds of good musicians out there who after training either choose not to, or have circumstances dictate that they never perform on a grand scale to audiences around the world, despite all the training and practice. In an article I was reading in The Guardian newspaper, it seems that many of them are considering a career in music therapy.

I went into music therapy for just that reason. I knew that I didn't want to perform, and honestly didn't have the dedication or application to work myself to the level that was needed, but also really wanted to earn a living through using music. When travelling in the States in 1999 I heard about music therapy, and it put togther my two interests; music and personal development.

Since 2002, I have been working as a music therapist, working primarily with children, and now under the musicatwork brand, developing HR/personnel development training courses using techniques from music therapy, mixed with coaching, debriefing and other tools to facilitate training.

6 Steps From musicatwork - my network

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 04:22:00 +0000

There are so many great people out there, doing amazing things which really make a difference to people's lives over and over. On the sidebar towards to bottom of the page is a list of people like this who make up my network. They are all friends of mine, with whom I have built trust and love over time, and whose work I think is fantastic. So click the links and see if what they do could be useful to you

Arts Based Training

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:50:00 +0000

If you're in the UK, you can get lots more infomation about arts based training, either as a provider or a recepient from - Arts & Business they are a fantastic organisation promoting links between The Arts and businesses across a wide variety of methods, including personnel training.

technorati literate?

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:34:00 +0000

Technorati Profile

trying to get everything set up!!

musicatwork gets a blog presence

noreply@blogger.com (musicatwork) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 00:49:00 +0000

Having just been to a seminar about "social media", and having successful put a page up on Wiki, I thought that blogging would be the next step in raising the profile of musicatwork, but also in engaging in debate about Arts Based Training generally. What we do is this....

“musicatwork – the sound approach to training” was formed in 2005 and delivers music therapy sessions to children and adults in a wide range of settings including schools, hospitals, prisons and residential day centres.

musicatwork also creates and delivers staff personnel development training to organisations, using elements of Play/Music Therapy, cutting-edge coaching techniques and music/musical improvisation in a highly structured way to form a unique mix.

musicatwork works with statutory bodies, private organisations, charities and individuals throughout Wales making music therapy available for all.

If you've every been sent on a team building day, you may well have done an outwards bound course/ropes course or another activity where you have been asked to building a bridge across an imaginary river and get your team across; an activity which then gets debriefed and the training happens as people see how/why they did what they did etc. Well musicatwork is very similar EXCEPT that we use a musical task/activity with our participants, which we then debrief and train from.

Tasks might be stuff like create a short piece of rhythmic music using ten instruments; or create a poem about the sunrise and put it to music...different tasks suits different training sessions.

And it all comes under the heading of Arts Based Training; which is why I wanted to start blogging, so that this blog and its links etc become a beautiful useful resource for people in the training industry, companies who want to hire Arts Based Trainers, and maybe artists who want to share their knowledge. I dunno, I guess it will grow and develop as it will.