Today's Plan? Not Much of a Plan

I am heading off to lead sessions today with a limited plan. It is Musician of the Month reveal week so I've got that, but there isn't anything else written on my session strategy planner for this week.

This is something that I do every once in a while. I head into my sessions without a set session strategy. Instead of writing things out, I spend time engaged in improvisation with my clients. We will probably work on some of the concepts that we've addressed recently - belly breathing will make a return appearance (coping skills are important to review often with my clients). By the end of today, I will probably have more of a plan than I do right now. Maybe I won't.

I've found that improvising sessions is something that keeps me paying attention to my clients. It is easy to get into a routine, but heading into a session without a plan allows me to focus on my clients in their groups. I can shape the music to the group without having a specific theme or TME to complete. I still shape the experiences to our clinical goals, but the music itself comes from us rather than from a TME plan or a songbook.

So, for this week, my bullet journal has only one thing on it for the week - Musician of the Month reveal.

When I get to work, I'm going to go into my TME file and refresh my memories about TMEs I haven't done in a very long time. Then, I'll just see what happens during my four group sessions today.

Am I the only one who sometimes has no plan when starting a session?

I hope not. There is something pretty amazing about simply placing yourself into a music experience with clients to see where you will go together. Some of my most amazing music therapy moments have happened when I have been an equal partner in the music experience - not leading, but using my experience and knowledge to support everyone as a participant.

As a student, we had to have a plan. We had to complete the plan as it was written or we were graded down. When I deviated from the plan, I had to justify why I changed my session plan (and got my session implementation points decreased). This may be where some of my session planning attitude comes from and is definitely behind the idea of session strategizing rather than planning. Now I give myself the freedom to make the client the center of my decision and strategizing process with a limited session plan.

Now, I know the reasoning behind making music therapy students make plans and then stick with them. There is an expectation that students think through the therapeutic function of their TMEs. I also see that sometimes students cannot cope when the plan doesn't work. I've seen expressions of panic, expressions of defeat, and expressions of pure bewilderment when things do not go the way it says on the plan. 

After four years of writing session plans for my practica, I went off into the world of internship. My internship director, Sheryl L. Kelly, RMT-BC, was the first person who challenged me to get off the plan and to follow where my clients led me. She and my other RMT-BC supervising music therapists showed me the freedom that comes with being a follower rather than insisting on being the leader all the time.

So, as I get ready to head off into the music therapy space located in my corner of the world, I am going out with some ideas but without a clear plan of where I will be going with my clients. I will watch them and shape the music that I can offer to the music that they offer.

That's the plan.