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In May 2008, we received exciting news. My husband was appointed as a Harkness-Fellow funded by the Commonwealth Fund and was placed as a postdoc at Yale University. Three months later, my husband, our kids Ben (6 yrs.) and Mia (4 yrs.), and I took a plane from Berlin to New York, a wonderful and exciting year started.
For me, a dream of in-depth research came true. As a “Yale spouse,“ I had the chance to use the Yale library for a systematic literature search. I conducted an “integrative systematic review in music therapy in the NICU“ (Haslbeck, 2009 #624) as part of my dissertation on creative music therapy with premature infants.
In November 2008, I attended the AMTA conference in St. Louis. It was overwhelming getting in touch with so many music therapists. The atmosphere, celebrating awards, students participation, and for most celebrating music therapy was a wonderful experience.
Besides, I started the specialized training as NICU-MT with Dr. Jayne Standley. By completing the professional training, including clinical fieldwork at the Orlando Hospital in Florida, I gained insight into music therapy methods and practice one cannot get from literature.
In March 2009, I had the chance to get an additional perspective into NICU-MT by completing another training at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, NYC, hosted by Dr. Joanne Loewy. Both trainings broadened my horizon and experiences as a music therapist who has been working in a German NICU since years.
To experience music therapy in the US-American context helped me to getting a deeper understanding of diverse approaches of music therapy and enhanced my personal music therapy skills, perspectives, and vision. In addition, to meet experts like Dr. Jayne Standley, Dr. Joanne Loewy, Dr. Petra Kern, and Dr. Clive Robbins was most exciting for me.
Thank you to all who made my year in the USA so special!Friederike from Germany (soon Switzerland)
