I’ve been teaching for over 18 years. My approach to teaching is practical and experiential. Included in my courses are either opportunities to practice the application of a theory or technique in situations based on real-life clinical scenarios from my own practice, and/or visual examples of myself demonstrating those applications in real time. I want students to walk away from each lesson with a sense of how they would use what they learn in their particular practice. Click the button below to “Enter the Academy.” You will be prompted to create a free student profile, and then you can select courses or sign up for a 30-60 minute 1-on-1 virtual training based on the offerings. Scroll down for descriptions of current offerings.

PMT Academy

Based on courses I taught as an adjunct at New York University’s graduate music therapy program for 6 years, GIAMT will get less-experienced guitar players quickly and thoughtfully using the entire fretboard in their clinical work and bring more experienced guitarists freshness, inspiration, and grounding every time they enter the music therapy room with guitar in hand.

Guitar Improv Accelerator for Music Therapists (GIAMT) - 7 CMTEs

How to Facilitate a Music Therapy Songwriting Group: A Practical Guide (Coming soon!)

I’m a long-time songwriter, but my way of writing songs didn’t always translate to music therapy, particularly in group work. Over the past 10 years, I’ve honed a template that has consistently provided deep clinical benefits in group work. This course provides my full template with video example of a sample group, along with alternative group structures and other clinical considerations. Experienced songwriter music therapists will find a dependable yet flexible approach to therapeutic group songwriting and therapists with little or no songwriting experience will gain the tools to confidently bring this powerful aspect of music, with it’s history in resilience, community, and survival, into their clinical work.

Guitar Improv Accelerator for Music Therapists II: Applying Your Skills to the Therapy Process (Coming soon!)

In this course, we look at five areas of engagement in the music therapy process: Meeting, Acceptance/Containment, Grounding, Promoting Self-expression, and Closure. At each stage there is a multitude of ways to apply your guitar skills and musical knowledge. Throughout the course, you’ll hear, see, and practice concrete ways to apply all the guitar skills from the first GIAMT course in various situations across the therapy process. For example, how do you facilitate grounding on guitar? You may imagine clear, steady rhythms on bar chords, and that may be just the thing in a given clinical situation, but what if that’s destabilizing to a specific therapy participant? What if those particular chords can’t be heard because of the other instruments being played in the room? And what if your clinical sense is telling you that facilitating grounding at this stage in the therapy process or therapy relationship seems forced and will likely lead to a negative or even harmful outcome? GIAMT II addresses questions like these and provides helpful frameworks and concrete skills to help you move with your clinical sense.

1-on-1 virtual training

There may be issues that come up in your specific music therapy practice or work setting that you need extra support on. You may find the answers in my courses above, or you may need guidance on something that wasn’t covered. I offer weekly 1-on-1 trainings to offer this individualized support. A 1-on-1 training could be a good way to get a sense of my teaching style before signing up for an entire course, or if you’ve taken a course, a training could help with more individualized guidance in applying skills to your particular setting.

Click “Enter the Academy” above then “Enroll Now” to create a free student profile. On the main academy page scroll down to “Featured Content” and click on the “Sessions” tab to select and schedule a 30 or 60-minute 1-on-1 virtual training over Zoom. If you don’t see a time slot that works with your schedule, reach out to me directly at practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com and we’ll find a time that works.

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 FAQs

  • Not at all. My courses are designed to accessible and provide concrete skills to aspiring and professional music therapists.

    In fact, as someone who sat on audition panels for NYU's graduate music therapy program, I intentionally included skills and ideas that would help anyone preparing for a music therapy program audition. Each course would also be an excellent supplement to current music therapy students or a seasoned professional.

  • CMTEs are "Continuing Music Therapy Education" credits. Music therapists in the United States who are board certified must acquire 100 CMTEs each 5 year term to maintain their board certification. I am an AMTA approved provider, which means my courses can earn participants 1 CMTE for each 50 minutes of learning.

  • Once you've completed one of my courses, you can e-mail me at practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com and I will send you feedback forms to fill out. Once you've completed those forms, I will e-mail you your certificate of completion that confirms you have earned the corresponding CMTEs.

  • By clicking the “Enter the Academy” button at the top of this page you will be redirected to my Trainer Central Academy page, where you can click “Enroll Now” to create a free student profile and explore all courses and offerings.

    Sign up for my mailing list to get access to discounts and news about offerings. You can do this by going to the “Contact” tab at the top of the site and selecting the “Sign up for news and updates” option under the “Email” field. For “Message” you can just write “course updates.”

  • Anyone can sign up for a 30 or 60 minute 1-on-1 slot to get more individualized training or feedback on their specific music therapy practice, or more guidance on an applying a specific skill or skills from my courses to their setting.

    To sign up for a weekly slot, click “Enter the Academy” above then “Enroll Now” to create a free student profile. On the main academy page scroll down to “Featured Content” and click on the “Sessions” tab to select and schedule a 30 or 60-minute 1-on-1 virtual training over Zoom.

    If you don’t see a time slot that works with your schedule, reach out to me directly at practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com and we’ll find a time that works.

    For longer term work, send an e-mail to practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com and inquire about supervision.

Mission Statement:

Practical Music Therapy’s goal is to provide aspiring and current music therapists with ongoing educational opportunities and resources. Content and training is focused on sharing and building practical skills, strategies, and applications for use in music therapy. All skill and experience levels are welcome, including aspiring music therapists interested in learning more or preparing for an audition.

Grievance policy:

Participants have the right to file a grievance for anything related to taking any of the above learning opportunities, including unmet expectations, as well as problems with the format, delivery, or instruction. Those who wish to submit a grievance may do so for up to 90 days after registering for an opportunity via email to Richards (Ricky) Perry, MA, MT-BC, LCAT at practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com.

A written response will be submitted within 5 days upon receipt of the email. Participants have the right to appeal this response within two weeks of receipt by e-mailing Richards (Ricky) Perry MA, MT-BC, LCAT at practicalmusictherapy@gmail.com. Participants hold the right to have a grievance addressed by the Continuing Education Committee of CBMT in the event that the Approved Provider’s Grievance Procedure is exhausted should the grievance be unresolved.