Thanks for attending our workshop at the Alzheimer's Association Dementia Education Conference hosted at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church of Charlotte, NC. Here is the digital handout created by Rose O'Toole, MT-BC, Neurologic Music Therapist. Ms. O'Toole co-presented with Eileen Schwartz of HealingArt4Caregivers: "Discover the Power of Art and Music."

Continuing on the Music Therapy Moment Blog series...

What is so unique about Piedmont Music Therapy? We are a staff of five MTBCs. Each of us sign our professional names with an acronym that is administered by The Certification Board for Music Therapists after earning a college bachelor’s degree in music therapy and completing an internship of 1200< hours. The credentials stand for Music Therapist-Board Certified. We are focused on serving an individual with creative and expressive art therapy.

As we continue to learn of community members who either identify themselves as music therapists or list music therapy on their agency programming... our team shares information to further clarify speciality offerings. If you are seeking a music therapists, ensure they are trained and qualified through CBMT.

We appreciate collaborating with individuals and offering lectures in the community to further network. Please help us to promote increasing access to trained and qualified professionals. PMT is one of many options for certified music therapists in the Carolinas. We encourage clients to make an informed decision with local clinicians validated through CBMT.org. Until licensure is passed in either state, we rely upon neighbors for support in advocacy.

Our staff of board certified music therapists are skilled and comfortable working with children or adults with communication disorders, mental health diagnoses, and memory care diseases. School coursework, internship and continuing education credits allow us to further our modality and clinical approach.

Thanks for reading our blog series on Music Therapy Moments. Hopefully this will further our mission of providing high quality services to our community. Cheers to #musicMonday ... what’s on your playlist today??

​Can you help share this opportunity with educators who may not be familiar with this program in its eighth year?

Piedmont Music Therapy, LLC is honored to be an approved Education Provider through the Arts & Science Council's Cultural Arts Education Directory.

Several of our team members will be present at the Cultural Education Expo on Saturday, 8/24/19. We will be present to answer questions about the four approved programs we will offer during the academic school year 2019-20. Those offerings are: Express Yourself Club, Ukulele Club, Staff Development: Musical Me and Therapeutic Summer Camps. 

Are you a part of a public, private or charter school in Charlotte that could benefit from these grant funded opportunities? Learn about eligibility and how to participate through ASC Website: HERE. We also have a separate web page to help welcome and inform ASCARs. Thanks to Erin Elliott and the staff at ASC for their support, plus Erin Morris @EpiphanySchoolCLT who initially introduced PMT to this educational opportunity.

#cultureforall #asceducation #creative #expressive #art #math #music #science #languageart #visualart #performingart #student #teacher #health #wellness #curriculum  #standard #access

On the eve of PMT’s Clinic third year of being located in Charlotte, NC... thanks for helping the practice to grow. We continue to provide the majority of our clinical work in the communities of Mecklenburg and York Counties fNorth Carolina and South Carolina). The clinic has afforded clients and private students a welcoming space to further their growth. We strive to promote health and wellness and advocate for increased access to specialized services such as music therapy.

Subtle benefits of having a clinic in South Charlotte:

• ​Clinical team has a central location for accessing materials and supplies. Gone are the days of meeting at convenient parking lots or driveways to exchange musical instruments!
• Accessible space to host community events, summer camps and resource sharing. It’s a single story entrance close to a parking lot with handicap accessible parking!
• Opportunities for folks to learn more about music therapy as a possible career option. Many students have completed Volunteer Projects furthering their understanding of music therapy!

Cheers to the third year of our location in South Charlotte. If you are interested in learning more about our service offerings, we invite you to the upcoming open houses in August 2019. We thank you for welcoming our clinic and studio space without any issues of sound volume. Please help us promote increased awareness and access to creative and expressive arts therapy for all ages.

​Thanks for reading our blog celebrating our clinic and studio space. Comment below with other notes on our third year of an address recognized by Google Maps:

Piedmont Music Therapy, LLC has been providing weekly treatment for the children (ages 3-11) since January 2016 because of grant funding. 

Our team is humbled to work with the families at Dove's Nest. We are passionate about offering creative and expressive arts therapy to the children as they grow. To learn more about the local organization, follow Charlotte Rescue Mission on Facebook. Please share this blog post and comment below!

We appreciated participating in the community event focused on mental health support services for veterans. Here is an overview of our table and offerings plus nearby vendors and organizations. Check out the weather ideal for an outdoor fair and 2K Roll & Walk:

Veterans Bridge Home out of Charlotte, NC has a wealth of resources and offerings for veterans.

Para Guide: Sight By Side attended and answered questions about services for veterans with visual impairment.

Dennis represented Guitars For Vets and shared information about the guitar instrument program available to veterans.

Team Red, White and Blue attended and shared about the many events organized in the community for veterans to connect.

PMT’s Table held many instruments for exploration and one of the favored ones was the one pictured drum below. The ocean drum by Remo waves all of your senses with the experience of rolling medal balls that simulate the sounds from an ocean.

Team River Runner: River to recovery was present and shared about the outdoor adventures they offer to veterans.

There were several tables with multiple staff from the VA such as telehealth coordinators and social workers speaking about suicide prevention.

We appreciated participating and expanding the offerings through introducing folks to our creative and expressive arts therapy practice.

Hopefully this recap will further connect veterans and their loved ones to available resources and supports in the community. Thanks for visiting our blog - please share this post or comment below.

We are grateful for the first-hand account of treatment provided to her students. The music therapist facilitated various interventions that included all of the clients and may have been adapted to support various learning.

Interested in group therapy options for your child or student? Contact us to learn more about this available option and thanks to all of the teachers who collaborate to provide evidence informed work!

This post is for the PMT Series featuring non-profit organizations.

At a community event honoring individuals with Rare & Undiagnosed Diseases earlier this year, we learned about an amazing non-profit that was started in Charlotte two years ago: Speed For Need, Inc. We were grateful to meet Kevin M. Young, Co-Founder & Executive Director of SFN and learn about the organization's impact areas. 

The mission of Speed For Need is to raise awareness and foster inclusion of those with special needs through participation in fitness events supported by the men of F3 Nation. F3 is a national network for met with a mission "to plant, grow and serve small workout groups fro men for the invigoration of male community leadership."

Speed For Need is receiving the first non-profit spotlight of the year because of the support they provide to so many people of various ages and diagnoses. Check out the online article by Charlotte Parent, February 2019 that features Speed For Need's Founder, Owen Farr's Father, Will Farr. 

​The respect, perseverance, and support provided through the events  is tremendous.  Photos from their races and rallies feature veterans, individuals with cancer and other disabilities that affect their physical mobility. We are proud to help in directing folks to this local beacon. Hopefully this post will benefit you or someone you know in the community that would like to safely participate in an event in one of the specially designed racing chairs while celebrating the journey of life with neighbors of all abilities.