Hunh. Favorite Things Friday??

There are times when things just plain old spiral out of control. I don't know if it has anything to do with the new moon or what but things started off in a smooth manner and then just exploded.

Anyway, yesterday is over and it is time for Favorite Things Friday!

Today's topic is self-care, music therapy, and triple chocolate cake!


For me, self-care has lots to do with finding my center and staying as close to that center as possible. This often means finding something that helps me to focus on what is important in life - thinking about music therapy and my role in this profession.

After a long day, I decided to make my favorite treat from childhood - triple chocolate cake. Interestingly enough (I find this interesting, if you don't, then just leave the blog now), this treat has survived a really bad bout of the flu and being the focus of that flu (I cannot stress how much I hate vomiting) and is still my favorite dessert! In the interest of full disclosure, I did plan on making this cake during this week at some point, but the events of Thursday seemed to make it necessary last night. So, I made it in between a long social media discussion and one of the webinars that I offer on a regular basis.


Now, I know that the cake doesn't look very appetizing in the second picture, it's not a cake that you eat for the glamor. The cake itself is extremely rich and gooey which just makes it the perfect way to escape for some time.

Once the cake came out of the oven, I let it cool for a bit and then ate a slice with a scoop of ice cream. As I ate it, I focused on some thoughts that came up during the discourse of the day.

Here are some of the things that I think about music therapy:

• Music therapy is a profession made up of many people who are passionate, caring, and advocates for the rights of others. As such, there will be times when we disagree with one another. That is inevitable.

• Music therapists seem to expect a certain amount of professional interaction from one another. This may be most important when we are engaged in disagreement.

• Music therapists tend to find like-minded therapists to agree with, to converse with, and to work with. This is one of our strengths and greatest detriments, especially when we start to divide amongst ourselves. If we can only keep one idea in our mind and are unable to see the perspectives of others, our profession will not survive. Remaining in our clusters is not healthy - we need to explore what others think, say, and practice to round ourselves out as professionals and as a profession. By remaining in our small clusters, we tend to dwell on the negative instead of the positive things that are going on in our profession. Branch out and be respectful when speaking to people about ideas and perspectives. You will be heard.

• The organization of any and every institution is slow to change. This is even more true when the institution is linked to higher education. In the clinical world, things can and do happen quickly. In the world of higher education, changes take a minimum of seven years to implement. Any changes to things like our model of education or clinical training cannot change any faster than our educational institutions can. It is difficult to be patient during this process of change, and not everyone is privy to all of the processes or timelines when it comes to organizational change. Things are happening, but, as therapists, we do not always know what's going on at the organizational level. The best way to find out is to simply ask. Keep asking until you find the person who knows what is going on. If you have concerns about internships, contact members of the Association Internship Approval Committee. They will probably know more about internships and current concerns than others. If you have concerns about ethical behavior on social media, contact members on the Board of Ethics. Go to the source.

• The internship model that we use is not perfect. It is not ideal and sometimes makes students feel disenfranchised. At this point, we have not found other models that will work for the combination of students who need to be fostered and the volunteer therapists who are willing to foster those students. We continue to search and discuss these issues. It seems that many interns do not know about the situations in place to support them and to protect them in their programs. That is a shame.

I still feel that this profession is a wonderful one. I am very glad that I am a music therapist and a part of the conversations about issues that affect each and every one of us. Let's continue the discussion.

Does anyone want to know how to make triple chocolate cake? It's really easy!

One box chocolate cake mix + ingredients listed on the cake mix box
One box instant chocolate pudding
As many chocolate chips as you want...

Mix the three ingredients together, then follow the directions on the cake mix box to mix and bake.

I don't put frosting on this cake - it's very rich as is, but you could totally use a chocolate glaze to make it quadruple chocolate cake.

There you go!