Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mack Bailey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mack, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

At the age of 50 I decided to pursue my master’s in music therapy. I joked that I could be any of my classmates’ fathers and some of my professors. School was fascinating to me, and I enjoyed being a student more at this age than I did as an undergrad. After I had finished with my courses, I had my internship. The only place I applied was Colorado Children’s Hospital. They have an amazing creative arts program in the psychiatric unit. One day a 12-year-old girl was admitted, and she had Conversion disorder. I was not familiar with this, but it presents neurological but is actually psychological. The disorder is when a person experiences repeated trauma, extended trauma, or traumas stacked on top of one another, and the body shuts down. She wouldn’t speak but only howled. She would not give eye contact and she walked with a shuffle like Parkinson’s. My first job was to get her to stop howling, so I howled with her. Being validated, she began giving me eye contact. While howling, I would ask a question. When she finally responded, her voice was very high in pitch. We sat at the piano and I found the pitch she was speaking. We then had conversations where I would start at her pitch and then walk the notes in half steps down the keyboard. She followed the pitch and when we reached a pitch that sounded normal, we would continue our conversation while I played that one note. To address the shuffle of her walk, I had learned a technique in school called Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation, which helps improve motor control and gait. I gathered the info for the formula (cadence, stride length, and velocity), The formula gives you a metronome figure that represents their gait. We bumped the metronome figure up 5%. She told me her favorite song was Boulevard of Broken Dreams. So, on a long hallway, we had her walk by herself with her then gait. We then started the metronome, I started playing the song, and she took 4 steps and then started running. She discharged 2 days later.

Mack, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was a touring musician but had also done work at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and with nursing homes and Alzheimer’s facilities. I knew that music has a powerful effect on people, but I wanted to know more of the why. I had worked with veterans through an organization called Challenge Aspen. We would write songs as a group. We had some powerful stories to write about and the veterans seemed to appreciate the process. After the 2008 recession, I started making plans to come off the road. One option that I was vaguely familiar with was music therapy. It took me 2 years to officially enroll in the Colorado State University program. Bottom line is that it was the best gift I ever gave myself. Our education was in neurologic music therapy and all brain based. The knowledge of how music works with the brain became my passion. I became a Board-certified music therapist and developed a program for veterans and survivors of sex trafficking and addiction. Every aspect of our program is evidence-based. We incorporate mindfulness, guitar therapy, and songwriting to help others gain control of how they live their story and how it is told.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There was a time where I was suffering from depression, and I never talked to anyone about it. Everyone thought my life was perfect. My life was like a roller coaster that I couldn’t get off. On stage were the highs and off stage were the lows. I finally said that if this is life, I don’t want it. I came up with a plan to end my life. At the eleventh hour, I wrote a song called Just Because you can’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not there. Tom Paxton helped me finish it. Many people would tell me what the song meant to them and that they knew what I was singing about. I never shared the true story until I went back to school and realized that if I want others to be authentic with me, I have to be authentic with them. This part of the journey helped shape the program that Music Therapy of the Rockies is based upon.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Definitely, the training and knowledge is the basis of music therapy. Music without the education is an activity to me. With the education, it is truly life-changing therapy. I am very proud of going back to school and gaining the knowledge needed to provide the best therapy that I can. The greatest skill any music therapist can provide the best service is to listen. You have the tools in your toolbox, now you listen to the client and help find a path for healing and improvement. I took a lot of psychology courses and counseling courses as part of my master’s program and I feel they benefitted me greatly in supporting the clients I have worked with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://musictherapyoftherockies.org/
• Instagram: musictherapyoftherockies
• Facebook: musictherapyoftherockies
• Linkedin: Mack Bailey
• Youtube: @musictherapyoftherockies

Image Credits
Roger That Photography Marcus Serrano Mallory Even