Thoughtful Thursday: What Do You Do Where You Are?
I think I'm a bit of an odd duck when it comes to research questions. At least, that's what it seemed like when I was in graduate school. The questions that made me curious often didn't jive with the ideas of my advisors. That both concerned me and made me curious. Why weren't others interested in developing tools for music therapists to use during sessions? Why weren't others interested in how music therapists made decisions about their live music making with and for clients? It was this, more than anything, that led me to leave the world of academia and go back into full-time clinical work.
Most of what I want to know can't be quantified, measured, or researched other than participant reporting. This is why I didn't find that my questions meshed with the ideas of my advisors. How do you really track the inner dialog that goes on inside the head of a music therapist who is making decisions about music presentation in the moment?
I have always loved the early editions of Music Therapy, the first journal of the National Association of Music Therapy. Those journals included descriptions of what music therapists did with their clients - descriptions of a "typical" day. I enjoy knowing that the music therapists down the road do things a bit differently than I do. I like thinking about why those therapists do things differently. It challenges my own way of doing this thing I call "music therapy."
I think this curiosity about why we do what we do is what led me to making a site for music therapists. I think it's why I enjoy training students. I also think it's why I miss interacting with other music therapists on a regular basis.
I like making things to make the lives of therapists easier. I've made schedule boards, TME collections, reward cards, databases, documentation forms, competency-based evaluations, inventory tracking systems, file folder kits, TME development, philosophy statement development, and lots of other things that have made my clinical life a bit more organized and easier. I think they help others as well (at least, some of my former interns tell me that they use what I gave to them).
That is the type of thing that interests me. What do you, as a therapist, need in your life to make things easier for you? A shift in how to write clinical goals? A list of questions to help you remember options during sessions? Goal-based TME development? These are the things that I love to think about.
I wonder what you do where you are compared to what I do where I am... What are your greatest challenges? What are your greatest strengths? I want to know - leave a comment or contact me.
Most of what I want to know can't be quantified, measured, or researched other than participant reporting. This is why I didn't find that my questions meshed with the ideas of my advisors. How do you really track the inner dialog that goes on inside the head of a music therapist who is making decisions about music presentation in the moment?
I have always loved the early editions of Music Therapy, the first journal of the National Association of Music Therapy. Those journals included descriptions of what music therapists did with their clients - descriptions of a "typical" day. I enjoy knowing that the music therapists down the road do things a bit differently than I do. I like thinking about why those therapists do things differently. It challenges my own way of doing this thing I call "music therapy."
I think this curiosity about why we do what we do is what led me to making a site for music therapists. I think it's why I enjoy training students. I also think it's why I miss interacting with other music therapists on a regular basis.
I like making things to make the lives of therapists easier. I've made schedule boards, TME collections, reward cards, databases, documentation forms, competency-based evaluations, inventory tracking systems, file folder kits, TME development, philosophy statement development, and lots of other things that have made my clinical life a bit more organized and easier. I think they help others as well (at least, some of my former interns tell me that they use what I gave to them).
That is the type of thing that interests me. What do you, as a therapist, need in your life to make things easier for you? A shift in how to write clinical goals? A list of questions to help you remember options during sessions? Goal-based TME development? These are the things that I love to think about.
I wonder what you do where you are compared to what I do where I am... What are your greatest challenges? What are your greatest strengths? I want to know - leave a comment or contact me.
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