music, therapy, and me

I recently wrote about making a themed packet based on a book. Today, I am going to take that one step farther because I was unable to think this morning, and I have 48 minutes left before a job interview that is making me nervous. So, here we go. On my desk right now is the book, llama llama mad at mama.  Now, I am someone who loves books of all sorts, formats, and topics, but being a music therapist means that I do not have the best excuse to purchase books to supplement my library. I worked with adolescents primarily, so having lots of picture books and children's books has been something that I have wanted but not pursued because of the costs. Now, though, I have the time to look at the books that I have and develop therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) to go with those books to help other music therapists use books in their therapy sessions. Back to the book... Anna Dewdney - I guess she is both the author and the illustrator because there is no illustrator listed - has a serie...

This weekend, I spent time making blank mini folders for some visuals that I want to make, putting a set of instrument cards together to show others, and finishing up some safety sign visuals that I started back when I was working. I used my corner rounder (one of the best inventions EVER made for file folder creators) on all of the projects, and I am really excited to see what the finished projects look like. I have decided to make two different types of things for my upcoming exhibit tables - tools and books - rather than everything that I have available. I will have display copies of almost everything, but those will have links to the digital files rather than full copies of things because I can't afford to make multiple copies of file folders right now. So, I will focus on making tools and finding a printer for my books. Meanwhile, I have lots of ideas to work on while I am trying my best to actually do things rather than just talk about what I want to do. I have not been able ...

I enjoy buying used children's books. I am currently on a Llama Llama kick. I love those stories, and I find lots of things to talk about in social-emotional goal development with clients. I even have a little llama stuffed animal that my family bought for me for my birthday (I think). I love those books mainly because they are just fun to read, but also because they rhyme! So, what? Who cares? Books are often a starting place for my brainstorming process. I take the work of someone else, and I use that work to stimulate my own therapeutic music experience (TME) development. To be fair, I do everything that I can not to replace or change the work of others but to supplement what work has already been done. So, Llama, Llama, Mad At Mama  inspires a song about things that make us feel angry and another TME about using our coping skills when we do feel angry. I use the book with a beat to introduce the theme for the session, but the other TMEs are related but are not the book. The boo...

I have a webinar that I am not running but will be attending later this morning. I am ready to learn a bit and figure out a bit about insurance reimbursement and music therapy. This has nothing to do with my life right now, but it may have something to do with my next iteration as a music therapist. There you go. I spent some time making things yesterday, and I have a new tool ready to go into my TPT store. It is a set of music instrument choice cards. I have printed out a hard copy that I am going to finish up - laminate and velcro and put into a binder for use later. I am thinking that we could make this at one of our Make It! groups . I also think that this is the type of tool that is useful for all sorts of music therapists. Right now, the file is only in black and white, but I will be making a color version pretty soon. I enjoy making tools - the things that we can use over and over again that enhance the music therapy experience for our clients without being tied to just one song...

Today is Design Day. By hook or by crook, I will have at least three new designs ready by the end of the day. I am close to this right now. I have two designs in progress. I have arranged a tool and started a game but I still need to scan in some images and write TMEs for all three things before I consider myself finished. So, I will be moving from my place here on my desk to my drawing table and back again for most of the morning. I will be printing things off, taping things down, and I need to get to the laminating stack that is climbing up and up. These designs are for our first Creation Group which will be happening on December 5th. I want to have some pictures to help sell the idea to others. I also need to talk to the two people who have indicated interest a bit about who they work with and what will be most valuable for them in their practice so I can adapt what I have into useful things. I am thinking that a tool, a song, and a game might be the best format for designs for this...

Much like many Americans, I went to sleep yesterday in a state of anxious hope. As I am sure that you know, things aren't going great in our country, and it has been difficult to be a particular type of person lately. I slept fitfully, but when I woke for the last time this morning, I was encouraged by the news. So, the mid-term elections are over, but we will see what will actually happen once the new folks take their seats in Congress. I think that it is pretty evident by most of my comments about politics which party I vote for consistently. I try not to put too much political stuff on this blog or on my social media accounts because I feel that how you vote is a private affair. I don't have to tell you how I vote, and I prefer to keep that private - most of the time. Today, though, I really want to celebrate that my state has elected our first Democratic senator in almost a century! I want to celebrate that we are getting rid of our nefarious Attorney General, but that is n...