Thoughtful Thursday

I had a discussion with a colleague yesterday about the challenges that I am facing in my music therapy clinic right now. This colleague shared that the same things were happening in their environment as well which was a bit validating. It was nice to know that the patterns that I'm seeing in client behaviors are not specifically linked to music therapy or the current change in session leadership that is happening but is more general than that.

When these seasons of treatment happen, and they do happen, I spend lots of time engaged in self-reflection. This is both good and bad for my state of well-being because I end up taking things personally that are not personal at all, and I eventually come to the conclusion that I am making progress with my clients. I just have to shift my definition of what my clients need from me to something that is less long-term in perspective and is more immediate.

My afternoon groups often come to me after being in PE. Now, I'm not sure what is going on in PE, but kids arrive in music therapy in a defiant mood, often attempting to hurt other people, and destroying things. My intern ends up having to adapt everything to accommodate kids who are pulling hair, running out of the room, throwing things, and cursing. It is a horrible situation that just seems to happen on Wednesdays after PE. On Thursdays, when they come to us before PE, the behavior of the group is very different. So, to me, this indicates that something is going on in PE. The problem is that we have to treat the students that we have before us, so it means that Wednesday sessions are damage control while Thursday sessions are more therapeutically focused.

I consider it a win if I can get all the students to be sitting in the session area by the end of the session. Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn't.

I am going to remember my basics about music. It may be time to read my favorite music therapy theorist, William Sears, again. In fact, here is a blog post series that I wrote before about my foundation. If you want to read more, search for William Sears on this blog - you'll see the series where I go through my favorite chapter of Music In Therapy, edited by E. Thayer Gaston.

Music works. It helps us regulate our emotions and can be a strong tool for shifting those emotions. I have the beginnings of a strategy to talk to my intern about tomorrow during supervision. What do we need to do to support our clients as individuals within a group? How do we proceed after seeing this disorganization and dysregulation of our clients on a predictable basis? What can we do, as music therapists, to support that dysregulation and then assist with regulating emotions in a way that is natural and not aggressive?

I know that we can do it. I am going back to the beginning now.