Time to Get Going
I have six days.
My mother arrives in Kansas in six days for a period of rest and relaxation with me, and I have to work like a fiend to get things done. My "lazy days and time to rest" vacation has become a "clean up everything so Mom can move in the VERY small living space available" time, and I have not been doing all that I can do in the evenings. I'm paying for that now.
I made progress this past weekend - panic tends to do that to me - but there is still way too much to do before I am finished with my odyssey to make this a presentable place. Interestingly, I was doing the exact same thing five years ago when my mother came to visit me because I was getting ready for surgery. This time? No surgery (that I'm planning for, at least)! She just wants to visit me.
The problem? I am exhausted by the time I get home so I'm not doing anything right now...
Last night, I fell asleep (sometime after 8pm because I saw that time on the tablet) with the big, uncomfortable hair clip in my hair and with the tablet playing YouTube videos. I woke up about 2:30am with my hair in a mess and the tablet still set to YouTube (but it had turned itself off - thank goodness for energy saving settings!).
I am running out of time, so it is time to get moving.
Right now, I am trying to figure out where Mom will sleep. Making the decision means significant changes in the route that I take to make my apartment habitable for two people and a cat... The decision I make now will direct the rest of these six days...
Okay. Time to be decisive and just move forward. I will set Mom up in the craft room. She can close the door so the cat can't pop the guest bed (I know, but it is a REALLY good inflatable bed!), and then we'll have the space in the front room to engage with each other without tripping over the bed. She can also sleep in without impeding my need to get stuff done real early. This will work.
Time for analogies...I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. What does this part of my personal life have to do with being a music therapist???
During the assessment period of any new therapeutic relationship, the possible paths to the client's desired outcome are endless. As a therapist, I have to contemplate the available pathways and then make a decision about how to proceed. If I spend too much time contemplating, then I don't have the time I need to help get my client where he or she wants to go. I have to make a decision and then move forward.
For me, the process of therapy has always been more about the journey than the starting point. The journey is the fun part. Sometimes, though the most difficult part of therapy is getting started.
I think about this quite a bit.
At my school program, most people refer to what I do as "music." That's it. Most folks don't really realize that I am a therapist, and it is rare for my co-workers to refer to my treatment as "music therapy." I do that - I refer to what I do as "music therapy" - but I also don't spend much time correcting others (depending on who they are) when they refer to me as the "music teacher." Often times, I am simply thrilled that they have remembered me at all.
I also don't stress the "therapy" part of things for my students. Some of them automatically hate music based on the experiences they have had in other music education programs - for those kids, I do trot out the "therapy" aspect, but others get really defensive when they hear that the are supposed to do "therapy." There can be a huge stigma associated with going to therapy, so I try to emphasize the aspect that is more likely to get me to develop a therapeutic relationship.
My students do not get a choice about being in therapy. It is part of their life when they are with us at the facility. They get social work therapy, recreation therapy, art therapy, and music therapy as part of their time at the center. Additionally, some also get occupational therapy and speech therapy - based on IEP needs. Therapy is part of what they do - there is no choice. This is one of the reasons that I don't stress my title - my clients have not chosen to be in therapy. Therapy has been chosen for them.
When a client arrives at the facility, they go with the schedule that is set for them, but what they do in that schedule is up to them. I get to know them, and there comes a time when they decide to engage in the therapy aspect of what I do. Some never make that decision. They remain on the fringes of music therapy the entire time they are with us. Others jump in from the very beginning and do everything presented with full attention and intention. The most important thing about music therapy at my facility is the clients (always the clients), and their decisions to engage are what makes therapy actually happen.
I cannot make decisions for them (of course), but I try to get them to decide to be part of the wonderful (in my opinion) world of music therapy. They have to take the first step.
Kinda reminds me of The Hobbit and Bilbo's decision to take the first step into the larger world. There are also correlations with Star Wars (of course).
My clients are on a much more important journey, and it is my role to show them that larger world. What an awe-inspiring concept and what a humbling responsibility!
It's time to get going.
My mother arrives in Kansas in six days for a period of rest and relaxation with me, and I have to work like a fiend to get things done. My "lazy days and time to rest" vacation has become a "clean up everything so Mom can move in the VERY small living space available" time, and I have not been doing all that I can do in the evenings. I'm paying for that now.
I made progress this past weekend - panic tends to do that to me - but there is still way too much to do before I am finished with my odyssey to make this a presentable place. Interestingly, I was doing the exact same thing five years ago when my mother came to visit me because I was getting ready for surgery. This time? No surgery (that I'm planning for, at least)! She just wants to visit me.
The problem? I am exhausted by the time I get home so I'm not doing anything right now...
Last night, I fell asleep (sometime after 8pm because I saw that time on the tablet) with the big, uncomfortable hair clip in my hair and with the tablet playing YouTube videos. I woke up about 2:30am with my hair in a mess and the tablet still set to YouTube (but it had turned itself off - thank goodness for energy saving settings!).
I am running out of time, so it is time to get moving.
Right now, I am trying to figure out where Mom will sleep. Making the decision means significant changes in the route that I take to make my apartment habitable for two people and a cat... The decision I make now will direct the rest of these six days...
Okay. Time to be decisive and just move forward. I will set Mom up in the craft room. She can close the door so the cat can't pop the guest bed (I know, but it is a REALLY good inflatable bed!), and then we'll have the space in the front room to engage with each other without tripping over the bed. She can also sleep in without impeding my need to get stuff done real early. This will work.
Time for analogies...I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. What does this part of my personal life have to do with being a music therapist???
During the assessment period of any new therapeutic relationship, the possible paths to the client's desired outcome are endless. As a therapist, I have to contemplate the available pathways and then make a decision about how to proceed. If I spend too much time contemplating, then I don't have the time I need to help get my client where he or she wants to go. I have to make a decision and then move forward.
For me, the process of therapy has always been more about the journey than the starting point. The journey is the fun part. Sometimes, though the most difficult part of therapy is getting started.
I think about this quite a bit.
At my school program, most people refer to what I do as "music." That's it. Most folks don't really realize that I am a therapist, and it is rare for my co-workers to refer to my treatment as "music therapy." I do that - I refer to what I do as "music therapy" - but I also don't spend much time correcting others (depending on who they are) when they refer to me as the "music teacher." Often times, I am simply thrilled that they have remembered me at all.
I also don't stress the "therapy" part of things for my students. Some of them automatically hate music based on the experiences they have had in other music education programs - for those kids, I do trot out the "therapy" aspect, but others get really defensive when they hear that the are supposed to do "therapy." There can be a huge stigma associated with going to therapy, so I try to emphasize the aspect that is more likely to get me to develop a therapeutic relationship.
My students do not get a choice about being in therapy. It is part of their life when they are with us at the facility. They get social work therapy, recreation therapy, art therapy, and music therapy as part of their time at the center. Additionally, some also get occupational therapy and speech therapy - based on IEP needs. Therapy is part of what they do - there is no choice. This is one of the reasons that I don't stress my title - my clients have not chosen to be in therapy. Therapy has been chosen for them.
When a client arrives at the facility, they go with the schedule that is set for them, but what they do in that schedule is up to them. I get to know them, and there comes a time when they decide to engage in the therapy aspect of what I do. Some never make that decision. They remain on the fringes of music therapy the entire time they are with us. Others jump in from the very beginning and do everything presented with full attention and intention. The most important thing about music therapy at my facility is the clients (always the clients), and their decisions to engage are what makes therapy actually happen.
I cannot make decisions for them (of course), but I try to get them to decide to be part of the wonderful (in my opinion) world of music therapy. They have to take the first step.
Kinda reminds me of The Hobbit and Bilbo's decision to take the first step into the larger world. There are also correlations with Star Wars (of course).
"You've taken your first step into a larger world." - Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope.A larger world available to you, just because you made a decision. What a thrilling concept. Will the world be bigger for me because I decided that Mom will sleep in the craft room rather than in the front room? Who knows, but I made a decision and it is time to get going towards my end goal.
My clients are on a much more important journey, and it is my role to show them that larger world. What an awe-inspiring concept and what a humbling responsibility!
It's time to get going.
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