3 Reasons to Keep Materials in Your Music Therapy Clinic

In one day, I have to take stuff to the annual church rummage sale. I've decided to donate some of the stuff that I have laying around - including some novelty instruments, games, DVDs, and clothing. It is time to start loading up the car.

I have been storing toy instruments in my house since we had to downsize due to renovations at my facility. Now that I have space for all the stuff, I haven't really found that I need those instruments at my facility, so it continues to sit in my house. There is no reason for this, so I am going to give away some toy drums, some keyboards, and toy guitars. I am going to keep the Fisher-Price story tellers and the cartridges - I can make plans to use and store those things.

Every break, I get into a "why do I have this?" type of mood, and I yearn to clean up and clear out. I also find myself keeping things much longer than I need them - mainly because of the "what ifs" that go through my head as I am cleaning out. IT is time to figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go.

Now the question becomes "Do I really need this item?" 

My emotional reason is often "Duh, of COURSE I need this ______!" I am going to use my rational mind in this process. Here are the questions I am going to ask myself - "Have I used this? Have I used this with clients? Is this something that I really need to have around? Will anyone care that this is moving on? Does this have at least one functional use in my life?

I started thinking about several things, and combined with my current situation of cleaning out, those things morphed into my current list - reasons to keep materials in my music therapy clinic. Here are the criteria that I use to decide whether I keep things of any kind in my clinical space.

1. Multiple Functions: My basic rule of thumb is that I can only use the storage space if I can use the "thing" in question at least 6 different ways. If I want to spend money on something like "Answer Buzzers" (which JUST arrived!), I have to think up 6 different therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) in order to keep them in my music therapy room. I have four ideas right now, and I am going to brainstorm the last two ideas pretty soon.
2. Novel for Clients: I think this is part of why Cathy finds that her friends enjoy using her "old-fashioned" materials. In this world of iPads and electronic voices, there are times when choosing a picture card is a welcome break and an additional way to communicate. Sure, having all those file folders and communication cards can take up space, but in this world of electric devices, there are still places for things that do not have to be plugged in or charged.
3. Client Preferences: I have some novel instruments (round bells, musini, croco-glocks) that I keep simply because I have some clients that love those instruments more than any other. Their affinities to those instruments make the storage space use more than worth it.

Now comes the hard part - actually getting rid of things. If I am smart, I will just go with the first inclination (which is almost always "get rid of this") and not second-guess myself.
It's time to start my process of making decisions. Gotta get my totes ready to be filled. It is time to clear out and clean up.