TME Tuesday: Developing TMEs for a Specific Client
I have all sorts of excuses about why I am not going to write a therapeutic music experience (TME) for this day - including being on vacation, needing to keep all of those TMEs for other projects, and plain old not wanting to dive into the files - but rest assured that this will make sense (I think...).
For today, we are going to focus on the right side of this graphic - thinking about the client and making TMEs that directly affect that one specific client.
I tend to write TMEs in general terms and for a wide variety of clients. This is purposeful because I think that it is the job of the therapist to adapt and extend ideas in ways that will assist the client sitting there in therapy. I anticipate that there are some therapists out there who don't go through the adaptation process and then wonder why the TMEs did not work as described in the resource. I feel strongly that ideas are just that, ideas, while it takes a client and a therapist to make the idea into music therapy. (That's one of the reasons why I like the term, therapeutic music experience, rather than music therapy something or other - the idea is only a possibly therapeutic experience until the client and the therapist get involved in the sharing of the music. Wow. That's an important revelation for me. I'll have to ponder that a bit more deeply...)
Here's what I do when I pick up a book of ideas or come up with an idea for music therapy.
First, I learn the TME as presented. I memorize the music, practice it until it becomes second nature to me, and then I start to think about the clients who will be present in the session. I ask questions. "How do I think client 1 will respond to this idea?" "Is this an age-appropriate idea for client 2?" "Is this a developmentally-appropriate idea for client 3?" The questions go on and on.
I basically go through the mind map presented above. I think about my clients (or client) and what they are working on and towards. I think about the music experience and their current goals and objectives. Then, I think about their current abilities to focus, pay attention to external stimuli, and their interest levels.
Then, I go into adaptation mode. I firmly believe that there is a time and place for every idea, but that every idea will not work in every time and place. I start to adapt what I know into something shaped around my knowledge of my client. This mode continues until I am actually with my client. At that point, things can certainly change (and should).
Once clients enter the therapy environment, it is my job to continue to adapt the idea into something that they will engage in and benefit from. I want them to actively engage in the music. (For me, nothing is worse than expecting my clients to sit quietly and simply listen to me during music therapy - they should (GOBLIN) be actively engaged in musicking.) This is where my knowledge of the elements of music comes into play. I watch my clients and adjust my music to accommodate their preferences, needs, and behaviors. I may need to slow the tempo down to assist my clients in completing the tasks I want them to do. I may need to change the pitch so that clients with auditory sensitivities can be more comfortable. I may need to change the lyrics to engage their attentions. Who knows what they will bring into the session, but I continue to adapt the original idea to find what best matches my clients in the moment.
I guess, for me, the most important idea is that TMEs are never set in stone. They are never complete. They are just ideas and proposed experiences. Until the client is part of the experience, they are not music therapy - they are experiences. I may have completed a TME thousands of times in music therapy sessions (and I have, believe me), but may never have completed the TME exactly the same way in all of those repetitions - because of my clients.
In my opinion, good therapists never follow a script exactly as written. I can certainly offer you ideas about what you could do in music therapy sessions, but if you follow my ideas, you may miss out on wonderful therapeutic benefits for your client. It is the job of a good therapist to take an idea and tailor it to fit the client in the session. Good therapists use their tool (in our case, music) to challenge the client towards growth and progress. Good therapists shape their ideas to the clients and don't try to shape the clients to meet the ideas.
If you are interested in some more ideas, please consider subscribing to sing about songs on my website. These are collections of TMEs based on general themes that are available every four months. The ideas are there for your use, but you make them into therapy.
As always, thanks for reading!!
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| Thinking about the client during TME development |
I tend to write TMEs in general terms and for a wide variety of clients. This is purposeful because I think that it is the job of the therapist to adapt and extend ideas in ways that will assist the client sitting there in therapy. I anticipate that there are some therapists out there who don't go through the adaptation process and then wonder why the TMEs did not work as described in the resource. I feel strongly that ideas are just that, ideas, while it takes a client and a therapist to make the idea into music therapy. (That's one of the reasons why I like the term, therapeutic music experience, rather than music therapy something or other - the idea is only a possibly therapeutic experience until the client and the therapist get involved in the sharing of the music. Wow. That's an important revelation for me. I'll have to ponder that a bit more deeply...)
Here's what I do when I pick up a book of ideas or come up with an idea for music therapy.
First, I learn the TME as presented. I memorize the music, practice it until it becomes second nature to me, and then I start to think about the clients who will be present in the session. I ask questions. "How do I think client 1 will respond to this idea?" "Is this an age-appropriate idea for client 2?" "Is this a developmentally-appropriate idea for client 3?" The questions go on and on.
I basically go through the mind map presented above. I think about my clients (or client) and what they are working on and towards. I think about the music experience and their current goals and objectives. Then, I think about their current abilities to focus, pay attention to external stimuli, and their interest levels.
Then, I go into adaptation mode. I firmly believe that there is a time and place for every idea, but that every idea will not work in every time and place. I start to adapt what I know into something shaped around my knowledge of my client. This mode continues until I am actually with my client. At that point, things can certainly change (and should).
Once clients enter the therapy environment, it is my job to continue to adapt the idea into something that they will engage in and benefit from. I want them to actively engage in the music. (For me, nothing is worse than expecting my clients to sit quietly and simply listen to me during music therapy - they should (GOBLIN) be actively engaged in musicking.) This is where my knowledge of the elements of music comes into play. I watch my clients and adjust my music to accommodate their preferences, needs, and behaviors. I may need to slow the tempo down to assist my clients in completing the tasks I want them to do. I may need to change the pitch so that clients with auditory sensitivities can be more comfortable. I may need to change the lyrics to engage their attentions. Who knows what they will bring into the session, but I continue to adapt the original idea to find what best matches my clients in the moment.
I guess, for me, the most important idea is that TMEs are never set in stone. They are never complete. They are just ideas and proposed experiences. Until the client is part of the experience, they are not music therapy - they are experiences. I may have completed a TME thousands of times in music therapy sessions (and I have, believe me), but may never have completed the TME exactly the same way in all of those repetitions - because of my clients.
In my opinion, good therapists never follow a script exactly as written. I can certainly offer you ideas about what you could do in music therapy sessions, but if you follow my ideas, you may miss out on wonderful therapeutic benefits for your client. It is the job of a good therapist to take an idea and tailor it to fit the client in the session. Good therapists use their tool (in our case, music) to challenge the client towards growth and progress. Good therapists shape their ideas to the clients and don't try to shape the clients to meet the ideas.
If you are interested in some more ideas, please consider subscribing to sing about songs on my website. These are collections of TMEs based on general themes that are available every four months. The ideas are there for your use, but you make them into therapy.
As always, thanks for reading!!
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