A-ha Moments

One of the best parts of my job as a music therapist is when I get to share in someone's A-ha moment. These are the times when something that didn't make sense previously all of a sudden is understood and is acted on. I am privileged to share in some of these moments with both my clients (children and adolescents with developmental and psychiatric concerns) as well as with my interns.

I love seeing those moments.

Recently, my intern has started to realize the power that music brings to a music therapy session. She has moved from the stage of overemphasizing her role in the session to the stage of emphasizing the role of the client in the session, but the role of music is starting to occur to her as well. She is starting to purposefully manipulate elements of music to increase or decrease the effect of music on clients' behavior. She is starting to recognize the changes in behavior that her clients are displaying and is relating those changes to the shifts in the music. A-ha!

I have a young man in individual treatment who has spent most of his time with me engaged in tapping a bottle on his hands. He has seemed wary of me and my music, but lately has been approaching me and rocking along with the music when it is played between 130 and 160 beats per minute. He is creeping closer and closer to the music instrument and to me, and he is starting to choose musical instruments as alternatives to his sound making bottle. His process has not been an a-ha, but has been more like an Aaaaaaaaa-Haaaaaaaaaaa.

I am looking for my own A-ha moment. I'm not sure when it will arrive or what it will look like, but I am searching for that moment. Stay tuned.

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