I Did Write Yesterday...But It Ended Up NOT Being Something To Share!

Yesterday, I sat down to try to sort out some of my feelings about things happening in the music therapy world right now, and the post ended up being such a mess that I decided that I was not going to share my thoughts.

I am still not going to share what I wrote yesterday.

I do this at times. I write and write about a specific topic and then I decide that I just cannot share what I wrote with the rest of the world. My mother is always glad to hear that I have some boundaries when it comes to writing. She is flabbergasted that I write about things and then put those thoughts out into the internet for just anyone to read. She thinks that blogs are where people share their secrets, and she just does not think that writing a blog is a good use of time. I figure that the thirteen of you who read this blog even when I don't publicize it on social media aren't here because I have great gossip to share...if that's what you are looking for, then this is probably not the blog for you!

I am currently failing miserably at establishing an evening routine...again! I did what I set out to do on Monday evening and then just stopped. It is now Friday, and I have done only what I was supposed to do on Monday night. I guess that is more than I did last week, but it is still not enough for my perfectionistic tendencies and self-pressure. At the same time, I also want to remember that I need to sleep when I am tired.

Well.

Music therapy sessions have gone well this week. I have been in the room for all my intern's group sessions to help ease the transition that we are taking in a week and a half. This is my routine with transitioning interns out of leadership and putting myself in with clients who are not used to me being the one with the guitar. I will be taking over all groups and individual sessions as of October 20, so I want kids to be familiar with my masked face before I take over again.

We have been doing some skeleton stuff this week - a song that one of my interns wrote is all about shaking our bones, so I made some skeleton visuals and put them out into the world of clients. We have been identifying bones, shaking specific body parts, and looking at skeleton pictures. I have some posters and some puzzles, and I am working on making a book to use which is all about bones and muscles. I will be including body songs in the book, so I have to print out sheet music and lyrics to include in the book later on. I will print those things on sticker paper so I can attach them to the book pages easily. I can also then make another one to keep in my files.

There is something nice about coming up with an idea and then trying it out with clients to see if it works. When it does, there is such a sense of satisfaction. When it doesn't, I do get a bit disappointed, but then I start to problem solve. I try to figure out how to tweak the idea into something else that I can try with those particular clients. I love puzzles, so trying to find a solution to any problem is a bit of a gift for myself. 

Today is Friday. I have two groups to run, one group to watch, and two dyads to observe. It is the last Friday for intern #32. We don't have school next Friday, so she will be finished with things next Thursday. It is time for an ending. She got an interview request yesterday, so things are starting to happen for her. I am always sad and proud and excited at this point in any intern's time with me. Since this intern has been my only intern for the past seven months, it will be a bit lonely when she leaves, but not a bad lonely. Intern #33 arrives in January, so I have two and a half months of being therapist - leaving when the day is done and getting home early. It will be lonely, but I find that these breaks in being supervisor help me be a better supervisor. I need to be therapist for some time rather than mentor and supervisor. So, I am both dreading and looking forward to an empty office.

Time to go. I will see you tomorrow...