Halfway Finished with the Week

I am halfway through my therapy week. There are just as many group sessions in front of me as there are behind me. This is a good thing. The therapy week has been going well. I've added some pull-out sessions to my group schedule, so I have had a chance to work with some students one to one. I still have some more space for more individual work, but some of my co-workers don't really seem to want me to take kids away from their classrooms. Others can't wait for me to take their students away. It cracks me up.

My favorite thing to do is to work with clients in an individual setting. I enjoy being able to connect with only one person at a time through and in music. It is something that doesn't really happen often as my primary treatment format is large classroom groups. I don't always get to engage with students within the group milieu. I enjoy having a chance to interact with my clients within their interests.

Yesterday, I spent some time with a Hello Kitty stuffed animal bouncing on a drum. I also spent a session using color changing putty as a usually quiet student chattered about all sorts of things. On Monday, one of my students decided to sing karaoke while I played the electric bass (I LOVE that instrument - have I mentioned that?). Today, I have a student who will want to use something electronic, and I'll try to get something else happening. After I see him, I'll go through my four group sessions for today and then spend time in a meeting (ugh) to finish up the day.

This week, we are going back into some more simple therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) as we interact with each other in group music therapy. We have a Musician of the Month reveal (it's Luke Bryan, Janice!), and we are doing some ball bouncing and some dancing. Towards the end of the session, most groups are engaging in instrument play.

I am spending some time watching my clients interact with each other and engage with the music. Some folks only talk to staff members. Some won't talk to staff members at all. Others have best buddies who try to whisper. Some want to be accepted by the "cool kids" while others just want to sit quietly. I find out so much about my kids when I watch them engage in play.

Many of my clients do not know how to play. They sort of skipped over the play part of their early childhoods so they do not know that it is fine to spend time engaged in something that is creative. Some of them do not know very much about how to engage in play. They have to be taught about the joy of play and imagining. Some of them never really get into it, but the music therapy room is a place where we practice those particular skills.

Music therapy is a place where we play.