music, therapy, and me

Eureka... I have found them! I have met my next two interns. They will be arriving simultaneously and moving through my program at the same time (I have never done that before). I am going to take advantage of the next 5 months to revamp my internship and get ready for 2 new ones! Other than that, my return to full-time therapy has been unremarkable. Kids still ask when the "new girl" is coming, but they seem to accept the statement that no one will be here until September. This is good as they are still happy to see me! I am enjoying the challenge of developing Therapeutic Music Experiences for my students. I have set aside an hour per week (minimum) to develop new ideas. I also have opportunities to rewrite my old TME's and put them in an electronic form rather than in my card file. I am also getting my clinic put back together in a way that suits me rather than the way that interns think it should go... You would think that 6.5 hours of straight therapy sessions would ...

Getting Ready for the First Day Tomorrow is my first day without an intern in over 3 years. I do have an intern applicant coming for an interview, but no official interns. My room is my room. My kids are my kids. I am ready. Unfortunately, I do not have a plan for my sessions yet. I will start with a welcome back to school song - This probably marks me as an "activity therapist," but I find that my students welcome the routine of an opening song. We will review the expectations of the music therapy session - every one is safe during the session, raising hands if a person wants a turn, the therapist is in charge - and then get into the process of music therapy. I'm thinking Orff improvisation tomorrow.

Time for Therapy Next week, for the first time in 3 and 1/2 years, I will be the only music therapist in my music therapy clinic. This may sound like a bad thing, but it is something that I have been looking forward to for the last 6 months. I am a music therapy internship director. I love being a clinical trainer, and enjoy the challenges of helping others learn about being music therapists. I have trained 8 therapists in a row (a first for me) and am now ready to take some time on my own. I enjoy music therapy. I love the opportunity to find the song that clients will respond to during the session. I like planning my sessions, just to change my plans when clients need something different. I thrive on playing instruments with my clients, improvising music that fills needs. I am looking forward to being the only one in my music therapy clinic for the next 6 months. Things will stay where I want them to be, all successes and failures in the session will be mine and mine alone, and I can...