TME Tuesday - Blank TME Form that I Use to Organize




It is Spring Break, and I decided to give myself a break when it comes to thinking during vacations. Therefore, I decided to share the format that I use to organize my Therapeutic Music Experiences (TMEs) with brief explanations of each section and why I think the information is important to include here on the blog. Feel free to ask questions, use the format, or change it to make it functional for you. 

There are many examples of how I use this format on my website at http://www.musictherapyworks.com/ideasandexperiences.html.

Therapeutic Music Experience
[TITLE] - I always title my TMEs - makes it easier to produce the TME when someone asks for a lesson plan or my clinical goals
Mary Jane Landaker, MME, MT-BC - Give credit where credit is due. If an idea is mine, then I claim it!
 

Purpose: - This is where I list all of my goals - primary, secondary, tertiary. Everything that we work on or could work on during a specific experience goes here. This helps me plan my group sessions when one person is working on grasp/release fine motor development and another is working on three-word sentence use in conversations.

Source: - Another place to give credit. I list any copyright information, any composers, lyricists, or music therapists that actually produced the music here. I also credit the person who developed the TME procedure and therapeutic use in this place.

Materials: - Anything and everything that I need to have available to run this TME. It all needs to be within my reach so I can keep things going in the music therapy session. Every time the music has to stop and wait while I am searching in a closet for the shaker eggs, music therapy's effect on my clients stops.

Environment: - Where will the clients, therapists, and materials be during the TME? Does there have to be a specific seating arrangement for the TME to work? Does the sound environment have to have specific characteristics?

Song/Chant/Words: - Yet one more place where I give credit where credit is due. If the song or lyrics are not mine, I do not publish them here. I provide a full APA reference or link to song.

If the song is my very own, I am able to replicate it in any form that I want. So, I do so.

Procedure: R = Reinforcement opportunities; C = Redirection/Cue opportunities; A = Assessment - This is an outline of everything that I will do during this TME. I will be giving cues and redirections, will be assessing client responses to the cues, and will be reinforcing desired behaviors. I don't bother too much with stating what the clients will do when I provide any or all of these prompts because clients RARELY do what is anticipated. I can only control my own behaviors and responses, so I focus on those.
1.      

Therapeutic Function of Music: - This section evolved after a series of discussions with Deanna Hanson-Abromeit about how we use music to change client responses. I start this section off with a brief discussion about why I use music for this particular TME. If I cannot come up with a reason to use music, then the experience is not a "Therapeutic Music" experience, just something to do with clients. I don't consider the treatment music therapy. The chart below helps me recognize the elements of music that I can change or adapt or use to move clients into active treatment.


Melody
Pitch
Rhythm
Dynamics
Harmony






Form
Tempo
Timbre
Style
Lyrics





Chart adapted from Hanson-Abromeit, D. (2010). A Closer Look at the Therapeutic Function of Music. Presentation at 2010 American Music Therapy Association National Conference: Cleveland, OH.

Adaptations: - How can I change this to use it with a different type of client? How can I make the TME easier or more difficult?
·          
Extensions: - What is the next step? Does this TME lead into another one based on theme? Music? Goal focus? What comes next?

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