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Surry Music Therapy Center (SMTC)
Alan Wittenberg M.A., CMT
Certified Music Therapist / American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)
8 Cross Road Surry, Maine 04684, USA
Telephone: 207-667-1308 / E-mail: alan@surrymusictherapy.com

These are unique opportunities for Maine professionals and students to enroll in a three credit introductory level course in music therapy offered in Maine (one will take place entirely online and on as a winter term intensive that will take place in a classroom).

Music as Therapy course offered this Summer at Hutchinson Center
Belfast. Looking for a fun and novel college course to take this summer? The University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast has many new and unique courses being offered. This summer there are three “music as therapy” courses that might be just what you are looking for in either your personal or professional life. No music background or experience is required.
Music therapy is an interactive experience - interpersonal skills - expansion of expressive affect - catharsis - self-exploration and discovery. Music therapy and the cognitive process have numerous benefits - music therapy and short and long term memory, attention span, sequencing and on task behavior. Music therapy also has philosophical and conceptual considerations - qualitative vs. quantitative therapeutic orientations, structure, freedom and spontaneity in therapeutic process - quality of life issues.

Music as Therapy
For Children with Special Needs.
MUS298 /510 Special Topics

(No Prior Music Training is Necessary)

Course Description
MUS 298 (cross listed as MUS 510) Music as Therapy – Special Needs Children & Youth will be taught in a one week 3 credit intensive format, June 29 through July 3 from 8:30 to 4:00 pm. Anyone working with children with special needs can benefit from this week of learning and developing the tools and strategies to use music as therapy in their work and personal lives.
Music is powerful yet subtle. It can stimulate, motivate and integrate children with special needs, enhance their cognitive, communicative, behavioral, social –emotional skills and support their global development. This introductory level course in music therapy in support of Pre School and special and elementary education goals and objectives will explore and offer music therapy workshop activities, print and web based resources, video illustrations and special topic (such as autism spectrum disorders) research opportunities.

MUS 298 / MUS 510
Instructor: Alan Wittenberg

Readings: Selected journal articles, web based materials and research.

Course Description:
(No prior musical training is necessary to enroll in this course)
Can music help a child with special needs learn social concepts, on task behaviors, impulse control and help them to facilitate transitions? Can music therapy decrease anxiety and depression for an elderly person with the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s? Can music therapy impact quality of life issues for an individual who has been involved in a traumatic injury and is receiving occupational or physical therapy sessions as part of their rehabilitation program. Can music therapy make a difference to an individual who is in counseling for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or AIDS? Can music therapy be a resource that might be unique and meaningful to someone you will work with or care about on a personal level in the future? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions this course will be an especially meaningful to you.

This course will engage and inform students about the clinical, developmental and rehabilitative field of music therapy. Music therapy will be illustrated as an integrative approach that targets goals and objectives central to health professions such as occupational and physical therapy, nursing, counseling and psychology as well as elementary and special education, and infant mental health. Conceptual and practical models of music therapy will be discussed and demonstrated. Music therapy as a creative, active treatment modality that has the potential to stimulate and motivate a wide range of disabilities and learning delays will be highlighted by readings, discussion, experiential activities, video illustrations and web based research.
Music therapy will also be explored in collaboration with the fields of counseling, psychology and nursing as music reflects our personal and interpersonal styles of communication and is another way to express our creativity and spontaneity and heighten our self-awareness. Concepts such as critical thinking and active listening, so important to future employment, career satisfaction and success will be emphasized.

Functional mobility, motor skills, posture, muscle tone, extension, range of motion, eye hand coordination, respiration, sensory integrative skills as well as the enhancement, retrieval, or acquisition of cognitive, communicative and interpersonal skills are some of the clinical and rehabilitative goal areas that will be emphasized and illustrated as shared / trans - disciplinary areas pertinent to health professions such as occupational and physical therapy, nursing, as well as counseling, education and music therapy .

This course will make extensive use of video illustrations and in class experiential activities as well as onsite observations, analysis of live music therapy sessions and web based research.

Expected Student Outcomes:

1.Students will learn and experience music therapy from the inside out by participating in experiential activities, viewing case study video illustrations, reading assignments, web based research and reactionary papers. Music therapy will be emphasized and illustrated as “complimentary care”, an educational / developmental modality and a form of psychotherapy that integrates and supports the goals of allied health, clinical and educational fields.

2.Students will gain a broad background and overview of the clinical, rehabilitative, developmental and academic field of music therapy.

3. Students will read about, analyze and discuss different clinical approaches within the field of music therapy and demonstrate an understanding of how these approaches integrate with and support allied health profession, counseling and educational goals and objectives.

4.Students will learn about and demonstrate a familiarity with the historic origins and modern day music therapy resources and treatment trends. Students will demonstrate a basic yet broad base of knowledge and understanding of the modern day profession and academic field of music therapy.
5.Students will learn and understand how music therapy as an interdisciplinary and trans - disciplinary approach can be creatively adapted and employed with various populations and pathologies as complimentary care, a primary or adjunctive form of counseling and a meaningful resource in elementary and special education.

6.Students will compile a list of music therapy resources that they may utilize to achieve objectives within their future study and work in the fields of occupational and physical therapy, counseling, nursing, education and special education.
Assignments and Grading:
Reading assignments and class participation; 30%
Reaction papers 40%
Final paper 30%

This course is being taught by Alan Wittenberg. If you have questions please contact the instructor, Alan Wittenberg, M.A., CMT and member of the American Music Therapy Association. Alan can be reached at the Surry Music Therapy Center, 8 Cross Road Surry, Maine 04684. His phone number is 207-667-1308 and his email is alan@surrymusictherapy.com

The University of Maine Hutchinson Center is currently accepting registrations for the Summer 2010 summer semester, some courses start in May. Call the Center for a free summer catalog as well as advising, career planning and course selection. You can also benefit from financial assistance, tutoring, mentoring as well as scholarships. The state of Maine legislature has partnered with the University of Maine system to offer senior citizens, who are residents of Maine and 65 years of age or older, a tuition waiver for any and all of the University of Maine courses. This waiver applies to tuition and fees and is on a space available basis.

You’ll find small class size, modern facility and technological resources, friendly staff, and financial and personal benefits of staying local (no need for room and board, save on gas and other transportation expenses, as well as both daytime and evening classes, and more).

Please contact the Hutchinson Center for a full course catalog or for an appointment at 338-8000, toll free 800-753-9044 or visit our website: www.hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu


email address: nancyb@maine.edu
Assistant Director
UMaine Hutchinson Center
80 Belmont Avenue
Belfast, ME 04915
(207) 338-8002
www.hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu
FAX (207) 338-8013

“I enjoyed this class, I found it interesting.”

“(the classes) balanced out in a positive way from lecture, videos, to instruments and group discussions.”

“This class showed me how music therapy can bring joy and happiness into peoples’ lives. Not only positive feelings but (also) physical and communication skills and much, much more.”

“I think many people will benefit from this information. I definitely will use this information in my future work.”

“This class is very informative and moving…I came into this class blind and you opened my eyes to music therapy. It is a great and moving subject.”

“The presentation style of this course was a welcome change from the trend …now of simply using Powerpoint lectures. It is in this manner the instructor was able to better fit the lessons to students needs and interests…This course is most certainly one that I would/will recommend to my peers…. Honestly, the most interactive and interesting class I’ve had all year.”

“This class was a good, positive learning experience. It helped me see what music therapy is all about and the benefits. It was a learning experience that I found enjoyable. I liked looking at information on the websites as well as learning information in class.”

1) University of Maine - MUS 298 - 990 and 995 "Music as Therapy : Body Mind and Spirit" (there are two sections of the same course, one out of the University of Maine at Orono and one at of the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, hence the cross listing 990 and 995) MUS298 is an entirely online 3 credit course. A special focus will be placed on music therapy and autism spectrum disorders as well as children with special needs.

The course begins Jan. 11, 2010 and ends April 30, 2010

Please feel free to contact me with questions, if you have trouble enrolling in the course or have questions about the syllabus learning outcomes , etc.

To enroll please contact the Division of Continuing Education (Wanda) at 581-3143 or Pam at the music Dept. 581-4702. (No prior musical training is necessary to enroll in this course)

How might a non-verbal autistic boy respond to you and how might you respond to him? How might an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease respond to music when she does not recognize her own daughter? Is music the universal language? This course will inform and engage students interested in the health professions, education, communication, psychology and counseling in~the clinical, rehabilitative and developmental field of~music therapy.

Music therapy will be illustrated as an integrative approach that targets goals and objectives central to infant mental health, early childhood development, elementary and special education, psychology and counseling as well as music therapy in relation to health related professions such as nursing and speech therapy. Conceptual and practical models of music therapy will be discussed and demonstrated. Music therapy as a~creative, active~treatment modality~that has the potential to stimulate and motivate a wide range of disabled populations will be highlighted by readings, discussion, experiential activities and video illustrations.

Expressive and receptive communication skills, preverbal, associative, and sensory integrative skills as well as the enhancement, retrieval,~or acquisition of~cognitive, communicative and interpersonal~skills are some of the clinical and rehabilitative goal areas that will be emphasized and illustrated as shared/trans - disciplinary areas pertinent to health professions such as nursing, psychology and counseling, as well as childhood development, education, communication, music education and music therapy.

This course will make extensive use of video illustrations as well as an on-site observation and analysis~of a live music therapy session. This course will be delivered to you via an Online class. You must have Broadband Internet, this includes Cable, DSL, and Satellite*
*Satellite will not work with streaming media content..

Your course begins 01/11/10 and ends 04/30/10

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2) Husson University - "Music as Therapy : Body MInd and Spirit" section 003
This course is a three credit course that will take place in a classroom as a winter term intensive.

(No prior musical training is necessary to enroll in this course)

The course begins on the Husson campus on Dec. 28, 2009 and ends Jan. 18th.
The class will meet from 1:00 PM - 3:40 PM in Peabody Hall on the Husson Bangor campus. New Years Day there will be no class.

To enroll please contact the registrar 941-7149.

Readings: Selected journal articles, and web based materials and research.

Course Description:
How might a non-verbal autistic boy respond to you and how might you respond to him? How might an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s Disease respond to music when she doesn’t recognize her own daughter? Is music the universal language?

This course will inform and engage students interested in the health professions, education, communication, psychology and counseling in the clinical, rehabilitative and developmental field of music therapy.

Music therapy will be illustrated as an integrative approach that targets goals and objectives central to health professions such as OT, PT and nursing as well as special education, infant mental health, psychology and counseling.

Conceptual and practical models of music therapy will be discussed and demonstrated. Music therapy as a creative, active treatment modality that has the potential to stimulate and motivate a wide range of disabled populations will be highlighted by readings, discussion, experiential activities and video illustrations.

Functional mobility, motor skills, posture, muscle tone, extension, range of motion, eye hand coordination, respiration, sensory integrative skills as well as the enhancement, retrieval, or acquisition of cognitive, communicative and interpersonal skills are some of the clinical and rehabilitative goal areas that will be emphasized and illustrated as shared / trans - disciplinary areas pertinent to health professions such as OT, PT nursing, counseling, education, communication and music therapy.

This course will make extensive use of video illustrations and in class experiential activities as well as an onsite observation and analysis of a live music therapy session.

Expected Student Outcomes:

  1. Students will learn about music therapy from the inside out by participating in experiential activities, viewing case study video illustrations, reading assignments and reactionary papers.
  2. Students will gain a broad background and overview of the clinical and rehabilitative field of music therapy.
  3. Students will read about, analyze and discuss different clinical approaches within the field of music therapy and demonstrate an understanding of how these approaches integrate with and support allied health profession goals and objectives.
  4. Students will learn about and demonstrate familiarity with historic and modern day music therapy resources and demonstrate a basic yet broad base of knowledge and understanding of the modern day profession and academic field of music therapy.
  5. Students will learn how music therapy as an interdisciplinary and trans - disciplinary approach can be creatively adapted and employed with various populations and pathologies as complimentary care.
  6. Students will compile journal entries written in class that reflect on class content, discussion, clinical illustrations, workshop activities, personal reflections and interpersonal and group dynamics.
  7. Students will make at least one presentation individually, with another student as a pair or in a small group on a specific population, pathology or issue of relevance in regard to music therapy and possibly a related topic.

Assignments and Grading:
Reading assignments and class participation and presentation; 30% reaction papers and student journals 40% final paper 30%

“The only aspect of this course I feel was lacking was the amount of time we spend in class. Too short! (It was totally awesome)…The topics covered were all extremely important…This course has opened up my heart and mind to a subject more or less unknown to me. (It will) without a doubt help me to not only be a better educator but a better person as well, (more) loving, patient, understanding and empathetic.”

“I feel that I am walking away with a great amount of knowledge for music therapy. When the course started I knew very little of this particular therapy.”

“I like the way the instructor gently guided the class through the content…He exhibits a passion and deep knowledge of content and presents in a quiet, organized way…I would recommend this to anyone working in a school. I wish my principal had attended…This course broadend my knowledge and gave me another way of thinking about what I do and how I teach. This course keeps me on my toes- reminds me to keep learning, trying, changing. Thank you.”

“I enjoyed the case study videos tremendously; they reinforced your words and explanations. I enjoyed learning about your experiences and work in Japan and Russia…I feel that you exposed us to the true meaning of Music Therapy. Your passion about this subject come through in all you do!... I will recommend this course to other special ed teachers, administrators and other therapists and educators. I will also recommend this course to some parents I know of children with special needs. I am happy that I took this course! I feel that even though I am not a therapist I have something in my “toolbox” that will enrich the lives of the children I work with.”

“This course has given me new ways to reach out to the children I work with”

“This course has provided great ideas for me to use in my social work practice. I will bring the knowledge of music therapy with me to work with children who are resistant or angry.”

“Your being willing to adapt to what the specific interests of the class were was very beneficial…I feel that this class should be required for understanding students…We all work with special needs children and this hands-on, visual illustrative approach is vital in working with …all young children.”

“I really liked the hands-on experience. I liked trying the instruments and finding ways to make connections wither with classmates or with Alan. Experiencing that process was a great way to get a send of what students/clients might feel in a similar situation. Communicating without words is so unusual these days…The creative process is so important and the ability to reach people through music is so underdeveloped. I want more teachers to get it and encourage the pursuit of Music Therapy in schools, then, on to other settings- hospitals, nursing homes, etc.)

“Alan presented this course as a music therapist would, in a helpful and caring way. On Friday of that week we hated to see the end as we were getting into the “meat of the subject.” It was obvious that Alan is passionate about music therapy and that can take it a long way. I can see the broadness and depth of this course developing into a degree course, something that could benefit the people of Maine. What a blessing to have Alan come to us at the University.”

”I liked the wealth of knowledge from the professor’s stories…about music therapy experiences. The class discussions helped my understanding. The research was fun and gave me another way to learn about music therapy and things related. I feel like the class ws presented in a way I really could benefit from. I am a visual learner so the videos and research on the computer gave me an easier way to learn the material.”

”Playing the musical instruments everyday is something I look forward to.”

“I like having a “hands on” experience.”

“The class is presented as a comfortable, more laid back atmosphere at most times. This makes it easier to learn, not extremely stressful.”

“it is good to have someone teaching the class who is enthusiastic about the subject."

“I think you have great illustrations and personal stories that really bring the subject to life.”

View Archives of Past Seminars and University Courses - Click Here
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A samplling of other types of organizations that have utilized the Surry Music Center and Alan Wittenberg

Preschools

Starrett Children’s Center, Belfast, Maine
Music therapy sessions to commence March 3rd thru a grant from Waldo County Child Development Services.

Medical Hospitals
Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) Bangor, Maine
Medical Grand Rounds - Lecture / presentation “ Music Therapy, Geriatric Care and Neuro degenerative Diseases” March 20th 11:00 A.M. Contact : EMMC at 877-366-3667 or 207-973-7000
Cancer Care

Beth Wright Cancer A series of music therapy sessions for participants of the Center Ellsworth, Maine  to begin March 6 at 2:00 P.M. Click for more information. Click to download the brochure.

Nursing Home/Rehabilitation Centers

Courtland Rehabilitation Center, Ellsworth, Maine
March 11th - Group Music Therapy Session 2:00 P.M.
Contact Pam Keen Activity Director; 207- 667-9036

Psychiatric Facilities

Acadia Hospital Grand Psychiatric Rounds – Lecture / presentation March 7th 9:00 – 10:30 A.M. Click here for more information.

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