Fun Friday: Silly, Therapeutic Games to Play in Music Therapy

I work with adolescents, and I can tell you that they are sometimes difficult to engage in what I have to offer them. Right now, I have one who absolutely refuses to engage with me in the music therapy room - no eye contact, no engagement, hunched over - but is effusive when glimpsing me in other places - smiles, enthusiastic greetings, high fives. It is fascinating to me.

Now, I have come across clients who have never given me a chance before. I have had a handful that I have never been able to interact with in a meaningful way. I never stop trying, but there are some people who are just not interested in anything that I can give them in my music therapy sessions.

It is hard to take at times. I am a people pleaser who just does not like to be disliked. So, the clients who do not like me make a bigger impact on how I feel about myself than the many clients who do seem to like me and what I do with them. I want to give my clients what they want and need during their mandatory time with me, but I also have to face reality that there are some people that will never like me or what I do no matter what.

When faced with clients who are less than enthusiastic about being with me in music therapy, my go-tos are games.

I have all sorts of games - physical games (hot potato, question/answer ball, motor stations, musical dot spots); cognitive/academic games (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Name That Tune, lyric scrambles, all sorts of these); acting/drama games (emotion acting, improvised situations with music); and other games that have many different clinical domains. I like making my own board games (the picture with this post is an example of a generic board game), and I also like using other things to make games.

This past week, we have been doing centers - opportunities for my clients to make choices and engage in music-adjacent leisure skill development. I offered a hot potato game that I found at the Target Dollar Spot in my local store. It plays a song for 30 seconds so you can toss it and see who has it when the music stops. Simple, but effective for my adolescents. It is hard not to participate when someone is tossing a soft potato to you.

I also offered different music-themed books and novel instruments for those who did not want to be active.The client who I wrote about at the beginning of this post? That client sat against the wall, scowling at me when I came close and refused to even look at what was available. I attempted contact and invited the client to engage, but the client did not.

I will try again next year, but for now, I am finished with client contact for the calendar year.

Blogging may be spotty for the rest of 2024 - I have things to do that will necessitate my absence from my main computer, but I will try to continue as much as I can. See you when I see you!!