TME Tuesday: Organization

 It is Tuesday again, and here I sit. I've written several songs already this week, but they are not in Therapeutic Music Experience (TME) format yet - just on super-sticky post-it notes within reach of my hands during sessions - when I need it. One of the themes for this month is "Stranger Danger." It's REALLY difficult for me to turn that concept into effective TMEs without scaring my clients. They are often extremely literal. I'm focusing on the aspect of staying with people you know for my stranger danger songs.

 I'm veering from my intended post today. Since I don't have my newest TME finished, I thought I would show you a bit of my TME database. I organize my ideas (and the ideas from others that I have learned over the years) into a large database. It is formulated in Excel, and contains the columns you see below - Title of TME, Keywords, Author, and Source (if not Author). Titles with blue printing have hyperlinks to other files in my TME file. Titles with black printing are cards or small pieces of paper stuck into my TME file boxes.

 As you can see, I organize by keyword. For me, that means primary and secondary goal domains. These first several songs all work on number recognition, sequencing, and entrainment to an external beat. When I spend the time to complete the TME outline (that I posted here), I can identify some of the things I can do with the music. There are always others, and that is the beauty of an electronic format... the ease with which I can add information. 

What you do not see here (because I didn't ask permission to publish any of their names) is that my interns have contributed greatly to my TME list. I am very careful to source my materials as completely as possible. (Someone took very public credit for a song I wrote once - I will NEVER do that to another music therapist!) Their work, their credit! It was difficult to find a snippet of the TME database that did not include at least one TME by one of the amazing interns that I have worked with in the past several years, so I took the first little bit.

 My next goal is to go through my music therapy idea books and add the TMEs there into this database along with the bibliographical information for each of the books. This goal will take me forever, but that is also the beauty of an electronic database. As this is my personal database, I get to set it up the way I want to and use it the way I want to, so off I go!

 How do you organize your ideas? Do you organize your ideas? Am I the only one who does this type of thing?? Let me know in the comments!!



 

Happy Tuesday!!




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