music, therapy, and me

Happy Thursday, all. It is time to think a bit about stuff going on in the music therapy world - well, at least stuff that I know about. I am no longer a member of the American Music Therapy Association. This is my second year of not paying membership dues, but I still get all the emails and announcements. I was thinking about my separation from this organization yesterday because a job that I felt I would be good at but ultimately decided not to apply for was filled and announced. I have a little bit of jealousy about someone else getting this position, but I am also relieved that I did not apply. I left the organization because it was feeling less like a professional advocacy organization promoting music therapy for persons we serve and more like a political action organization demanding socio-political changes in the greater world. I do not feel like a professional organization should be making political statements about situations that are not directly related to the profession. No...

I am tired. This probably doesn't surprise you as it appears to be a recurring theme on this blog, but I am. We have seventeen days before kids start their summer break. Thirteen days of work between now and week off and then I have sixteen more days of work before I am finished. I received my exit paperwork in the mail yesterday. I have information about my final paycheck and an exit interview survey as well as some information about Cobra. I have an interview with an insurance broker to see if I can get health insurance from the government site starting on July 1, There are all sorts of things that are now on my to-do list that weren't there two days ago, so I have lots to get done. My students are exhausting right now. There isn't a day when everyone is content and happy to be in music therapy. I have had to sing over screaming for a long time now, and it is so difficult to navigate loud students. Most of the issues that have happened started outside of music therapy and...

It is Tuesday, so let's talk about a therapy technique that I have used over my many years as a music therapist. That's right. It is  Therapy Technique Tuesday !!  Today's technique is the negotiable/non-negotiable threshold. Are you ready?? I work with adolescents. My adolescents are very angry when boundaries and expectations are placed upon them. When they get angry, my adolescents tend to become aggressive, confrontational, and just plain mean. As a result, over the past thirty some odd years, I have learned to offer choices for things that just do not really matter to how music therapy sessions work. I call these my negotiables. The things that do matter are my non-negotiables.  Non-negotiables include anything that will harm self, others, or property. Non-negotiables also include how we speak to others, even when we are escalated or angry. These non-negotiables are things that I have to keep under control due to safety needs and requirements. Other things are comple...

I wrote on both Thursday and Friday last week, but I didn't post on the blog. I do that sometimes, especially when what I am writing about is either too personal or too negative for my tastes. So, the past four days have just been time for resting and getting sick AGAIN! This time around, I have to get antibiotics early so I don't end up losing more money due to illness. This is Star Wars week, and I am ready to share my love of these movies with my students for the last time at my current job! I have new R2D2 Crocs to wear with my various Star Wars shirts. To say that I am a Star Wars fan is a pablum type way to describe my love of this franchise. I have a Star Wars bathroom that is accessed via a Star Wars hallway. I have posters and toys and Doorables and puzzle pictures and all sorts of things that I have collected over the years. What is in the hallway is just a small bit of my collection. It is finally time to share this with students again. I am exhausted and not really ...

There are two days left of the month of April. May is fast approaching, and I am not ready for all of this stuff! I have only two months left of my working life at my current job. That is wild! Meanwhile, my house is looking more and more cluttered as I bring home instruments, visuals, manipulatives, gross motor implements, and toys back to sit in my living room until I can find them another place to reside. I have accumulated lots of things in my work life, so I am faced with lots of inquiries about whether I will use specific things again. I made progress on my organization on Sunday. I spent some time moving my music books and my music therapy textbooks into the library closet where they will reside from now on. I have a loose system happening there - nothing really formal yet, but sheet music arranged by type and textbooks arranged by subject area - sorta. I went through four large totes and convinced my brain that it is a good thing to throw things away. It really is. Once I can e...

This has been a rough couple of weeks at my place. We have had more assists in music therapy than in months and months of time. I have had to initiate an assist in the past seven days which ALWAYS makes me hesitant to return in a therapeutic relationship with clients. I really hate putting hands on clients who are in crisis and hurting self, others, and are creating significant property damage, but it is part of my job as music therapist at my facility. As a result, my own emotions have been out of control. We are all in a place of exhaustion and emotional lability, so it becomes more important for me to utilize my rational brain rather than my emotional brain when I am in the role of therapist. When there are emotional outbursts that lead to aggression and assists in my area, I tend to go into my own crisis cycle - my thinking becomes limited, my body braces for flight/fight/freeze responses, and I get into a tizzy. This has become more difficult to navigate lately - so many reasons w...