This Is Wednesday, Right?

I am currently in a bit of a stress-cycle induced by renovation, schedule changes, ineffective communication, extra work responsibilities, and kids who are extremely confused by their new classes, classmates, and schedules.

I am having some trouble keeping track of what day it is.

This is not unusual when I'm in the center of a scheduling vortex - and my schedule may change yet again - I can't seem to get to the place of habit when the schedule changes every 10 minutes.

So, today is Wednesday, I think, and I'm trying to get ready for my day. I hope the schedule I am thinking about is the actual schedule that I have to do. I guess I'll find out.

I am a person who thrives on structure. I need and want a routine. Now, once that routine is established, I love some unpredictability within that structure. I have no problem going with the flow and improvising therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) once I know that I need to be in a classroom from 10:45-11:45 and have some idea of who will be sharing the experiences with me. I think this is one reason why I work well with persons with diagnoses on the Autism and psychiatric spectra. They also seem to need routine and structure in order to relax and concentrate on their treatment.

Now, there is a danger in becoming too schedule-dependent. I've worked with several youngsters who would throw terrible tantrums if something happened to interrupt the schedule that was generated every day. There was no place for change in the schedule. Being that dependent is not conducive to the vagaries of life. There are times when you cannot predict what will happen in the next 12 hours - something unexpected may occur. 

The trick is to find a balance between a routine and improvisation. Isn't that true of music therapy as well? (Ooh! I love when my random topics make some therapy-sense as I write! Total serendipity!!)

I guess, when it comes to my therapy style with my clients, that I like to incorporate both a routine and improvisation. I am one of those people who starts off each session with an opening TME. It's not always a "Hello Song," but it often is. I find that I can adequately assess where each person in the session is during that opening TME. That is routine. Once I've assessed each person, I spend quite a bit of time improvising my session plan to accommodate the session members, their current needs, and their long-term goals. The session plan never ends up the way I envision it prior to the session, but my method seems to work pretty well... most days. Sometimes it doesn't work, but that's an entirely different post altogether.

During music therapy sessions, it's important to match the needs of the client with the TMEs that you present. If your goals and objectives state that a client will match notes on the keyboard, then you have to use the keyboard. What happens if, as adolescents often do, the client wakes up and chooses to drop the keyboard and wants to learn how to play the guitar. Do you then force the client to play the keyboard even when he doesn't want to do so? How is that therapeutic? So, a bit of therapeutic improvisation is called for. How do you have the client match notes on the guitar? Improvise. (By the way, my clients do NOT have goals that require such specific structures and musical requirements. It's just an example.)

The structure comes from knowing client's goals and objectives and striving towards meeting those goals during every session. The improvisation comes in when the therapist takes the interests of the client and finds ways to match interests to the goals and objectives.

One of my favorite quotations is as follows:

Structures are restraints - A way of limiting.
What you can build within restraints and structures
is almost limitless.
- Corita Kent

This is the best thought that I can have for supporting both routine and improvisation within a music therapy session.

It is time to head out into this Wednesday, seeking a routine, and attempting to find that balance between madness and ultra-scripted existence. 

What do you do when you have no predictability in your professional life? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sing A Song Sunday - The Time Change Song (Fall)

Being An Internship Director: Why I Do Very Little Active Recruitment

Dear AMTA