Crocodiles

My apologies to the person who took this photograph. It is from National Wildlife, August/September 1999 edition, and from an article entitled "Okefenokee Swamp." I do not have the credit for either the author or the photographer, so this is all the information that I have. 

I keep a book of images. It's just magazine pictures that I've collected over the years. The images have to intrigue me in some way. Sometimes it's humor that draws me in, sometimes not. This was an image that isn't humorous, but it's fascinating to me for some reason.

What do I do with these images? I use them as inspiration for writing. Today's blog post is brought to you via this image because I am a visual person who uses pictures to think through things. These are often the inspiration for songs that I write for no reason other than needing to write a song. Those types of songs don't often make it into therapy, but they act as a therapeutic outlet for me, so they are therapeutic in nature.

I think this particular picture called to me today for the simple reason that the image offers so many levels of complexity and offers me food for thought.

Here's how I'm processing things right now (and maybe how I'm processing my own life through this visual as well).

This image offers a glimpse into the life of this group of crocodiles (I think they're crocs, blunted nose and all - they may be alligators, though). They are swimming in a group. There are many levels of croc bodies here. Crocs swimming over crocs, going in all directions. They seem to be peaceful, but we all know their potential. You can see arms and legs, but not many of them. Just lots of crocodile heads moving from one place to another. Everybody has a place to go, but no one seems to be too much in a hurry. They just seem to be going somewhere. I feel peace in this picture.

So, how does this correlate to my own existence? 

As a therapist, I think of this group of animals as the issues that my clients bring into every music therapy sessions. We all bring in our crocodiles - worry, anxiety, past trauma, current issues - sometimes they swim along peacefully. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes one of those crocodiles gets agitated for some reason and then the rest of them start to twitch, move, and share in the agitation. Once the frenzy is over, the entire group is able to calm again, but you have to survive the frenzy. It is difficult to separate one crocodile (issue) from the bask or float (the name for a collective group of crocodiles). When one starts, all join in. The issues we bring into a session are like that. A song might stir up the anxiety crocodile which, in turn, starts the trauma crocodile to twitch, which stimulates the fear crocodile...

There should never be a time when a therapist tries to avoid stimulating the crocodiles, but the therapist needs to be able to handle the frenzy that happens. (This is where continuing education and professional supervision fits into a therapist's life - being able to handle what each client brings into the music therapy session.) There are times when I accidentally agitate the trauma crocodile and the crocodile that actually snaps at me is the refusal croc. I may have stirred up something and the manifestation is something completely different. The responses look very similar, much like the picture of these crocodiles. There are some individual differences, but they are not often easy to see.

It's my job, as the therapist, to try to figure out which crocodile is starting the frenzy. 

I'm off to stir up some crocodiles today. (It is Wednesday, after all.) Let's hope that they will simply bask, but if they don't, let's hope that it will be easy to determine which crocodile sets off the entire bask. If not, let's hope that I will gain some insight into each group of crocodiles that my clients bring with them.