Updates...
I spent a bunch of time in a medication haze this week, so things kinda got away from me. Here are some updates to what happened in my music therapy room this week...
This week we used novelty instruments. These are the instruments that I keep in the far back reaches of my cabinets. They are assorted shakers, loud obnoxious instruments, and things that are not easily replaced. I bring them out infrequently since one instrument gets broken every session. We played these instruments, tried everything out, checked long-term memory with Kim's Game, and practiced our social skills when it was time to trade.
My individual sessions were very good this week. I had to discontinue treatment for one young woman who no longer participates in music therapy interventions. She has decided that music is a time to engage in inappropriate sexual stimulation. I can now use her time for a student who will participate. All of my other individuals really started to click this week. I had approached the week with some trepidation due to the fact that several of my clients did not appear to be interested in music therapy last week. This week, all of those folks started to interact with me through the music.
"Q" took over the fast/slow playing that I had modeled in the previous session. He played, and I moved this week. We giggled and communicated. Other students started playing instruments in lessons, started songwriting, and started to make a music video starring themselves! Things are hopping down in the music therapy room.
This was a week that reinforced the importance of music as a therapeutic medium for children and adolescents with developmental disorders and concurrent psychiatric concerns. Even when I was bit by a client (who REALLY did not want to leave the music therapy room), I still felt that the benefit of the music therapy session outweighed the big old bruise on my forearm.
It was also a good week for music therapy advocacy in my facility. I had visits from school district representatives and my own administrators during sessions. I received an email from my principal about my work with our students - it was complimentary which was unusual.
What a good week.
This week we used novelty instruments. These are the instruments that I keep in the far back reaches of my cabinets. They are assorted shakers, loud obnoxious instruments, and things that are not easily replaced. I bring them out infrequently since one instrument gets broken every session. We played these instruments, tried everything out, checked long-term memory with Kim's Game, and practiced our social skills when it was time to trade.
My individual sessions were very good this week. I had to discontinue treatment for one young woman who no longer participates in music therapy interventions. She has decided that music is a time to engage in inappropriate sexual stimulation. I can now use her time for a student who will participate. All of my other individuals really started to click this week. I had approached the week with some trepidation due to the fact that several of my clients did not appear to be interested in music therapy last week. This week, all of those folks started to interact with me through the music.
"Q" took over the fast/slow playing that I had modeled in the previous session. He played, and I moved this week. We giggled and communicated. Other students started playing instruments in lessons, started songwriting, and started to make a music video starring themselves! Things are hopping down in the music therapy room.
This was a week that reinforced the importance of music as a therapeutic medium for children and adolescents with developmental disorders and concurrent psychiatric concerns. Even when I was bit by a client (who REALLY did not want to leave the music therapy room), I still felt that the benefit of the music therapy session outweighed the big old bruise on my forearm. It was also a good week for music therapy advocacy in my facility. I had visits from school district representatives and my own administrators during sessions. I received an email from my principal about my work with our students - it was complimentary which was unusual.
What a good week.
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