It’s a Small World After All: International Training Expands ‘Vision’ of Music Therapy
We are fortunate at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC to have several options for training. Our team provides a full-month of hands-on music therapy observations and orientations with a variety of possibilities: from track training to Vocation Vacations for corporate executives looking for a different taste of a profession (vocationvacations.com).
In October we hosted our second Heather-on-Earth Multi-site NICU Music Therapy training. Throughout the year, we hold weekly trainings in Music & Medicine- for two days or for one or two weeks (international students). In addition we have two-day experiential and observational learning for professionals. We also hold two month trainings for Scandinavian students and two week trainings for Scandinavian scholars through the generous support of our LATTS (Louis Armstrong Thanks To Scandinavia) Program which was initiated by philanthropist Richard Netter Esq. and the late Victor Borg.
It seems that we always are blessed with visitors and many come from different countries. One month ago Donny Deutsch (The Big Idea) visited with Geri Fessler (Heather on Earth!). Two weeks ago we had a wonderful Nurse researcher from Winthrop Hospital in Long Island and a music therapist from Taiwan, and these past two weeks we have had two wonderful music therapy Masters' students from University of Barcelona.
Hosting faculty and students from other countries is always enlightening. American inner-city healthcare is ahead in some ways and behind in others, but the way the arts are incorporated in healthcare in our country is quite different than the way it is provided elsewhere. I am amazed how similar issues are addressed in similar ways through music-but there are differences; some are political, or derived from cultural institutions, others are religious or stem from etiquette related origins. I am reminded of these differences when I spend time with our trainees and through the feedback/comments that our neighboring international music therapists offer. The insights provided are incredible.
The value of teaching, as a professional is known by professors and therapists. Perhaps less is said about the importance and expansion we gain as we host allied professionals (MDs, RNs, SW's, CLS, Chaplains)-and much less in sharing ideas with professionals and students from other countries. It is exciting to cross the ocean in our daily work. I am grateful for such opportunities. It makes the world seem small and intimate, while at the same time it nourishes in a way that is quite satisfying.
