TME Tuesday: Star Wars Stuff

I am running themed therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) at my facility this week because...

It is Star Wars week, or, as a co-worker put it yesterday, "It is the May."

This is the one week per year that I devote myself to a theme for music therapy programming. I do not often use themes with my clients because I don't like that type of structure or limitations and my clients often need me to do other things. I think thematic programming would be fine, but it's not what I want as a therapist. So, I don't use themes.

Even though I do not use themes for my own sessions, I do love creating things that go together for various categories and topics. I'm working on a new subscription service that will focus on thematic programming exclusively. The first topic? Cats...of course, it is cats.

Anyway...

This week's theme is Star Wars, and I have pulled out my May storage box to access as many of my Star Wars visuals and materials as possible. In my monthly boxes, I have themed stuff. In May's box, I have my sing about may editions, some character pictures, my constellation flashlights, some Lego Star Wars advertisements, and instructions for R2-D2, my voice-activated robot. The robot went to work yesterday, so it is waiting for the sessions today.

My R2-D2 robot is amazing, and it is a big hit with my clients, even when they have never seen a Star Wars movie. It is voice-activated, stubborn as all get out, and does a whole lot of stuff. There are many commands, but you have to follow a specific sequence of voice commands to get R2 to do anything. Many of my clients cannot give R2 the time or space to respond. He is also very stubborn and will refuse to do what is asked. R2 tests frustration tolerance very well. We often talk about how frustrating it is when someone asks you to do something and you refuse or throw a tantrum (R2 will do that every so often as well).

Yesterday, I had very little time with my students because my junior intern's TMEs took up most of the session time. I'm not complaining about that - to be clear. I am pleased that intern 34 is now moving into doing most of the session. I am taking over intern 33's sessions completely this week so I can do the Star Wars stuff that I have planned.

My TMEs for this theme include using R2-D2, listening to the music of Star Wars, conducting using the constellation flashlights, talking about John Williams, and playing "Who Am I?" with some character sheets - I sing prompts to clients, they cross off people who do not fit the categories to eliminate different characters to isolate one. If my clients get the concept, then I will relinquish the role of singer and leader to one of them. If we get really good at it (and we don't cheat - unlikely, but you never know), we can split into smaller groups to play the game. We will do other things as needed for time - I improvise TMEs pretty well under pressure - many years of doing this job has made me open to making things up as I go along.

I am wearing my Star Wars and related clothing this week. Today, I have a t-shirt on that has a guitar and a ukulele on it. The guitar is pointing to the ukulele and says, "Uke, I am your father." The ukulele is on its knees with a look of anguish on its "face" and cries, "Nooo!" It is very cute and was a shirt that my Dad bought for me the year before he died. Some of the staff will get the joke. Most of my students will not, but that's okay. I find it funny, so I get joy out of wearing it!

We have 18.5 days until our first summer break. The countdown is on!!