Thoughtful Thursday: The Power of Music

Yesterday, I had the privilege of watching a client find preferred music in the music therapy clinic. It's something that I get to watch every so often, but yesterday's experience was one of the ones that reinforces to me that this is a great profession that means something to my clients.

One of my students sang and danced through the entirety of "The Greatest Show" from The Greatest Showman. This in itself is not a surprising event, but the particular client who responded was a bit surprising. This client was even able to mimic all the choreography from the opening number and then requested a second song from the soundtrack. The client's affect went from closed and the attitude went from uninterested in all things music therapy to full open and positive affect and full participation - all because my intern found the "magic" song. 

These are the moments that make the rest of the challenges of this job really worth it.

I may be someone who is frustrated with the state of music therapy rhetoric these days. I may be someone who is sad that there seems to be so many people who don't get to experience these moments (or who are unable to recognize them when they arrive), but I am also a music therapist who values these little moments and keeps them close to remember when the Mondays and Tuesdays of the week arrive. These are the moments that keep me getting up and going to a job that can be challenging but is rewarding as well. I keep my eyes on the rewarding parts of this job.

It's now my job to figure out how to put music from The Greatest Showman into every session from now on.

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