Random Thoughts

There are times when I just post random thoughts on this blog. This is one of those posts - sorry in advance...

Sometimes clients are like mystery stories - they are a puzzle to figure out. How should this person be approached? What is the best way to engage this client in this particular time and mood? Why doesn't the "prescribed" plan work? Lots of questions for a therapist to consider and figure out.

My bag of tricks... Yesterday, Cathy Knoll posted the following:
WORD OF THE DAY for Friday, June 1, 2012 from Dictionary.com
armamentarium \ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm\, noun:
1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.
She used this as an example of her "bag of tricks" that she takes from session to session. I think of my personal "bag of tricks" as my Therapeutic Music Experience (TME) file. My TME file has been with me for many years - more than I've been an MT. It started as an index card box and is being transformed into an electronic database as we speak. 
This armamentarium of mine has been my cache of ideas, my inspiration, and my challenge. I have placed ideas of mine, of my interns, of music therapists that I revere, and of complete strangers into my "bag of tricks." It is my lifeline to creativity, and I encourage others to find their way to find creativity as well.
Living in the moment...There is nothing better than getting so wrapped up in what you are doing that you forget all about time.
I hope that you have the opportunity to be creative, to live in a moment, and to figure out the mystery of a client in music therapy.

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