There is a Theme in These Posts About Themes...

Hand-drawn monkeys - soon to be on TPT!

I admit, when I get thinking about something, I just do not stop until the thought is thunk. (Interestingly, my spell-check does not object to the word "thunk.") So, I am still stuck on the idea of thematic programming and how music therapists can (and already do) use this programming in their clinical interactions. I thought about this all the way to work yesterday and for the first 20 minutes of my clinical day, and I decided to continue to develop this idea into a second post because I always do better once I've written something down for others to see and think about (AND comment on!! Tell me if you think this is right or completely wrong!!). Here are my thoughts about thematic programming - Day Two (if you are interested in reading my thoughts on day one, here's the link).

First of all, I believe that we all do thematic programming in our music therapy clinics. Oooh, I can hear people saying, "What? I don't do themes on lollipops or monkeys in MY music therapy practice!!!" I imagine indignant tones and some folks have just stopped reading at this point, but hold on. I have a point. A theme is a way to organize. We all have clinical goals and objectives for our clients, right? That is our first theme.

Our clients' desired outcomes are a way that we organize treatment for them, so that is our first theme. Think about this concept - if I have a group of people who have been referred to music therapy for anger management development, then all of the therapeutic interventions and interactions that we have should be centered around that particular goal. I am then going to make sure that every therapeutic music experience (TME and what I call what I do with my clients in my sessions) has an element that relates to anger management. Under that general desired outcome, I may have other themes/goals/foci that also emerge. Maybe anger management through coping skill development (another theme!) and emotional catharsis through GIM or drumming or lyric analysis or songwriting or instrument learning (Bam! Five more themes!!) This is why I think that all music therapists are inherently theme-based.

Now, I do not think that was the intent of the person who posted the question on my social media. I think this person was a bit more interested in another way you can use themes - as another organizational tool within that greater desired outcome/goal/theme. So here is the other way that many of us view the concept of "themes in music therapy."

I made the mistake of asking my sister about why she does thematic programming in her first grade class and 40 minutes later she was still passionately talking about curriculum, common core standards, Teachers Pay Teachers (which she LOVES but has some definite opinions about people who state that files will assist children in learning specific standards but really do not), and the state of education in the country today. When I was able to get her to actually answer my question ("So, sis, why do you use themes in your education of children?"), her answer was simple. "Kids seem more interested in things when they make sense to them."

I think all people are that way - not just the 6 year olds in our world. We all get interested in something when it makes sense to us. My sister and her fellow teachers use themes to reinforce learning concepts. If their reading comprehension passage for the week is about penguins, then their math problems have a penguin theme. Science becomes focused on penguins. Social studies times include investigating geography of places where penguins live. The students work on writing about penguins and then produce penguin informational videos to round out the unit. Kids are practicing the skills that they need to have - all sorts of academic minutiae - but they are also learning about more than short e sounds in the word penguin.

Some of us music therapy types do this in music therapy sessions as well. We have that overarching theme (desired outcome/goal, etc.) but we embed those outcomes into other topic areas. This is more of an enrichment atmosphere than anything else, but it helps our clients make sense out of specific information as well as engages their interest. I may be working on anger management with my clients, but doing the same thing over and over again in the same way can get boring. Practicing the skills that we need to practice in the same way every time leads my clients (and me) into ennui. Practicing those same skills within different perspectives or situations or environments or topics lends some novelty which increases client buy-in. So, if the short-term theme is 50's rock and roll, anger management might focus to songwriting to typical chord progressions for that time period. Relaxation may be accompanied by music from the era. Drumming could reflect that musical style as well. We are still working on our identified skill areas and desired outcomes, but we are also generalizing those skills into other concepts and situations.

My clients often remember themes more than they remember tasks. Folks will look at me and say, "Hey, Mary Jane. Do you remember when we moved like elephants during that song?" The elephant music is what they remember - the movement development (the desired outcome) was attached to the theme. This is another one of the powers of thematic programming - common experiences within a shared setting.

The last part about this type of theme is that there is absolutely no wrong theme idea (other than things that are not appropriate for your clients to discuss or be involved in, of course). If you want a theme about "famous angry musicians" for your anger management group, why not? You could identify those musicians who have not been very patient with others, listen to their music, analyze the lyrics to see if their music seems as angry as their personalities appear, make recommendations to those musicians about what coping skills the group members think would help those musicians be a bit less angry, and then finish up with some songwriting about the musician and personal anger. There you go. An entire theme, offered to you for free, based on the clinical desired outcomes and also focused on something else that is relevant to the group's desired outcomes and may increase participation from group members.

I wish I could sit at home all day to play with these ideas. I like this type of learning and would love to make and sell full themes for music therapists to use with their clients, but I can't afford to leave my full-time or my part-time jobs at this time, so I'll go to work with my mind churning over this concept (again). It will be another interesting commute.

Happy Wednesday!