music, therapy, and me

I am a proudly vintage music therapist. I have been practicing music therapy for over 30 years now, and it has been an interesting journey. As I am getting ready to transition from a full-time school employee to retiring from that job to something new, I am thinking about all the things that I know now that I wish someone had told me earlier... One of the things that I wish I had been required to do was a introduction to business course. I am starting that process now, but I really wish I had been in the know for my entire career. I am now trying to learn about being a small business owner as I am trying to figure out my next steps. I knew, from the very beginning of my career, that I would never escape the question, "so, what is musical therapy, anyway?" I have had many different ways of explaining what I do, but it has always been interesting to see how people respond and what they ask about our profession. I should keep a tally of the times that I explain my job. That woul...

Oi. My return to work yesterday was frustrating from beginning to end.  The day started with a smooth trip to work. I traversed the 50 miles from my house to the facility parking lot without difficulty, and I entered the building to find my room pretty much the way I left it. For some reason, the stereo had been removed which negated about 50% of the sub plans that I had left. There were chairs everywhere, but no major holes in walls or things that looked too bad - at first glance. Later investigation revealed that someone had knocked over a soda or a cup of coffee on the top of one of my cabinets that was just left there, so there is now a thick residue there that I will have to figure out how to clean because I just cannot handle that sort of mess in my space. Okay, not a bad way to reenter the work space after a month being gone. I arrived 30 minutes early (of course) because I needed to go through my emails to see what we were going to be doing for the day. The calendar said th...

It is the first day of the "regular" school year, so this is my New Year. I tend to be a bit more likely to establish quests and the like at this time of year than I do in January. This may be my last school year start - I know it will be my last at this school - so my quests are a bit more nostalgic than anything else. Here are my quests for the 2025-2026 school year: Bring lunches to work Move more Enjoy the year Read 200 books Make 12 book units Bring my things home from work Rip CDs to the computer I have not counted any reading before this time, so the book I read yesterday does not count, but any other reading from now on does count. I have started the CD project already and have been through one large CD case for about 90+ CDs into my computer. I am using Windows Media Player because iTunes just stopped working. I really do not like iThings, and they do not like me, either. I will make a lunch today, and I intend on getting into a Sunday routine of making lunch parts f...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I like to purchase things for my music therapy clinic that work well, and that I don't mind having to buy once they get destroyed. My clients are not easy on things. Most of my clients have been shown that the only way to get attention from others is to destroy things, so they do. It makes it difficult to provide them with things that they need - fidgets, sensory boxes, alternative seating - because they immediately either throw them, rip them, or dismantle them. I have to monitor all use of every thing that I provide for clients, and it gets difficult when there are eight clients in the session.  Having said all of this about my chosen population, I want you to know that I am constantly looking for my white whale - materials that are durable and that aren't too expensive. I like Oriental Trading Company. (Please remember that I do not do affiliate links or get any sort of financial benefit from recommending anything on this ...

Monday has come around again, and it is the last Monday that I have off before the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Next Monday is my first day with kids after being off for over a month due to medical issues that are continuing even after surgery. We now know more about what is happening inside my body, and it doesn't seem all that great. I go to my primary person today to cover some things that are concerning me - high blood pressure, falling, etc., but that is a topic for another day. Today's topic is laminating. I am a big fan of lamination. My clients tend to be juicy, so it is a good idea to cover things in plastic that can withstand some Clorox wiping (or LOTS of Clorox wiping). So, I enjoy covering visual aids in plastic.  When I was an intern, it was often my job to cover visuals in clear Contact paper. Now, I HATE Contact paper because it was my job to cover visuals during my internship. I swear that stuff sees me coming and instantly starts to fold, wrinkle, and s...

Part of my identity as a vintage music therapist is my CD and cassette collection. Now, I have purged many of my cassettes, but I cannot seem to get rid of the CDs that I purchased over many years. I use them in my car during commutes because wi-fi and data usage and all that is confusing to me (that's where the vintage label becomes VERY evident), so I prefer my music in tangible form rather than in streaming. So, I have book after book of CDs in my living room. The reason I bring this up is that the songs that I have been listening to lately are from yet another soundtrack - Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  This is from a sweet movie that discusses grief and creativity and love, and the music is wonderful. It is currently the only CD in my car, so I am listening to it often. I cannot identify a favorite track in the soundtrack. It all blends together nicely. There is only one vocal track, and that one is not my favorite. I enjoy the leitmotivs and the way the music flows. I r...

Well, it is Friday again. This time next week, I will be at work, trying to figure out what I will be doing instead of going through the physical aspect of our behavior management system. I will still be a bit shy of my 6 week, no lifting requirement. Technically, that will be the week after, but I have to go back to work so I have a little bit of sick time left. I am almost ready to return to my work life. I am feeling better, can move pretty well, but am still having some medical issues. I have to fit in some more tests and things to do before the start of the new benefits year. That reminds me - time to check the benefit sign-up process. It is time, so I have gone through that process and have the confirmation page proving that I have finished it all. Today's challenge is to see if I can get an appointment with my primary care person to talk about some of the medical challenges that I have left before I head back to work. That means making phone calls to snippy medical professio...

Well, it is now Thursday, and I have one week of my enforced and scheduled break left before I get into the 2025-2026 school year. I think I have finished my medical appointments for some time, but other things are popping up that need to be addressed, so I am not sure that I will be able to leave the world of medical issues completely. This week has been a good one for creativity and for my TPT store as well as for feeding my soul. I have put in three new files - star instrument cards in color, star instrument cards in black and white, and Olympics sports in both color and black and white. I completed several art journal pages, and I have read and read and read my current crop of library books.  I have spent money on things I wanted rather than on things that I needed, but I have done some spending on things I needed as well. I have a new music therapy t-shirt that I am looking forward to wearing around my facility. I have some new die-cut templates for journaling and visual aid p...

It is Wednesday again, so it is time to highlight a website that I use for either inspiration or materials. Today's website is one that I use as both a storefront and to get materials. It used to be called Teachers Pay Teachers - now it is just TPT .  (I am conveniently linking you to my store - if you are interested in music therapy visual aids at low, budget-friendly prices.) I have always made it a point to be completely transparent when it comes to recommendations. I get a financial benefit if you purchase something from my store on this site. I do not get any sort of financial benefit if you purchase from any other stores on the site. It is free to sign up, and there are SO many free resources on the site that are just sitting there! I am always surprised when I hear that a music therapist has not signed up, especially those who work with children, adolescents, and young adults. So, head out there and sign up for TPT. Also, check out the resources that I have available for th...

This is going to be a thematic post - all about themes, and my current theme is "Back to School." I spend lots of moments during this time of year hearing about classroom themes (my sister's classroom is going to be amazing, y'all), watching classroom organization videos, thinking about my own room (which doesn't really change all that much), and seeing the decor that is generated by many people in the music education world.  There are some teachers out there (cough, cough sissa!) who make everything match or work within their creative themes. My room has muraled walls, so there is not much room for things to put on the walls. Also, my clients like to rip things from the wall and destroy them, so I don't want to spend time and money replacing decorations over again. So, I tend to keep the decorations things that I can move to and fro in the group area rather than on the walls. That doesn't mean that I don't have ideas about themes. Ooh boy, do I have i...

Monday has rolled around again. I am waiting for my sister to call me while she drives to work, and I am sitting here. I spent some time making things this weekend. I finished a digital file for my TPT store - Olympics . I started all of that last summer when the Olympics was going on, but I finished the file yesterday! It is up and going on my TPT store, so take a peek! It features a choice board, color and black and white visuals for as many sports (men and women) as I could find, and some other boards to use with my sing about the olympics book (also sold in my TPT store). Let me know if you get it. I always am seeking feedback from people who try my stuff. I also spent a little bit of time working on my art journal pages. Yesterday, I showed you the background pages that we completed during my class on Saturday. I finished one of them (I think - you never know with an art journal page...) yesterday. I took the page that I started with a rice paper print of books on shelves and fini...

It has been a long time since I have listened to music that is just for me alone.  It has been a long time since I sat down with my keyboard and just played music that I love. I do not seek music out for my leisure time - mainly because I am surrounded with it most of the time. I changed that last night. I turned on my streaming service on my television and let it select music for me for most of my waking hours. My choice parameters were soundtracks and musicals, and the music that was shared was mostly pleasant for me. There were only a couple of songs that I didn't enjoy, but I didn't skip any of them. I listened all the way through all the songs, but I also allowed my attention to go in and out while I was listening. I enjoyed it, and will do more listening in this manner. The shuffle function keeps the music novel and goes like my favorite compilations go - from one extreme to another and back again from one side of the music continuum to another side. Many of my non-musica...

Saturday! I am more tired now than I have been lately. There is some sort of health situation that comes up every time I start to feel better, but I still have a week and a half before I go back to work. I hope that everything will be resolved by that point. Fatigue is my biggest downfall at the moment. I am going to head to the local craft store for an Introduction to Art Journaling  class today. I have to bring scissors and my "favorite adhesive." That makes me giggle a bit because I really don't have a "favorite adhesive," but my mother has left me a whole bunch of glue type substances to use. Her recent craft work happened to need specific types of glue, but she was unable to find the exact glues that she needed, so she bought all the glues while she was here for my recovery. She was unable to take them, so guess who has a box of different types of glues?? So, in a couple of hours, I will leave my house with some scissors and a variety of adhesives so I can ...

It is time for a little bit of fun. This is the first day of the last break before the start of the 25-26 school year. I, of course, have been on break since the beginning of this contract year due to the surgery that I had at the start of the last official break. I am not really all that excited about the start of the last summer break, but I am looking forward to another two weeks of being here on my own. I feel kinda guilty about having five weeks off, but I am also aware that I am recovering from major surgery, so the guilt sort of sloughs off. Anyway, today is Friday, so I want to focus on some fun. Lately, my source of fun has been library books. Aw long-time readers know, I have recently gone back to the library to support my reading habit. I have been reading lots of things in the recent weeks. I also made a large order from Thriftbooks.com for books for me rather than for my music therapy practice. Tomorrow, I will be going to a local craft store for an "Introduction to A...

So, my sister likes Website Wednesday as a theme. I have done this in the past (check out the label for earlier posts), but it might just need to be something that I come back to. So, here it goes - the second attempt at this theme... It's Wednesday which means it is time to feature a website. I am currently paying attention to all sorts of music education folks - their blogs, posts, and classroom reveals. For some reason, I really like classroom reveals. It probably has something to do with hearing about my sister's themes and not being around her for the big reveal. Anyway, one blogger that I am enjoying right now is Mrs. Stouffer . Her website, Mrs. Stouffer's Music Room , offers lots of blog posts about things that are not relevant to music therapists but as many that are, especially if you are a school-based therapist like me! I am currently going through Mrs. Stouffer's Ultimate Book List.  This is a resource that will be helpful for me this year as I try to make ...

My Niec-at So, my sister reads my blog and sent me her ideas about what my themes should be for each day of the week. I got a text last night (after I was asleep) about what she wants to see as my themes. Here it is - Maker Monday - Tune In Tuesday - Website Wednesday - Thinking Thursday - Fact or Fiction Friday I am still navigating the ideas for each of these themes, but I will start some of them. Since today is Tuesday, let's investigate a bit more about what Tune In Tuesday could be about. It could be about music, music videos, musicians, therapists, or educators that are part of my life or that I've noticed. I'm not sure I could sustain that for long. It could be something about things to pay attention to as a therapist.  I just don't know. I am kinda dithering these days. I have little to no focus for anything other than medical appointments and reading books. I want to do more, but I just can't get going on any project. I have one more step to go through befo...

I am back to wanting to do thematic blogging for some of the days of the week on this blog. Mondays used to be internship focused but I no longer have an internship, so I have stopped writing on that topic. Since I am not in the internship world anymore, I feel like writing about it is sort of hypocritical. So, I am trying to get back into a routine of writing thematic posts at least three times per week.  These themes have to be things that interest me about the world of music therapy, but I am not really in the world of music therapy at this point. All I can really talk about is what it is like to be a vintage clinician, and I think that would get boring real quick for me and for you. So, let's see what else I know... Therapeutic Music Experience development Group management Being a clinician in a world that favors research Budgeting for a music therapy practice Becoming an entrepreneur Making things for clients Some music therapy history Music therapy systems that work for me Wa...

It is time to start focusing on this next school year. I have most things already planned, but, as always, I am trying to make things less routine for myself and more interesting - to me. My client population is about 30% long-term day students who go around with me over and over again and 70% short-term stay students who come in and out of the psychiatric residential treatment facility. I try to make things interesting on myself by rotating ideas and session themes on a two-year schedule. This allows my long-term students some time between presentations. This was not my idea - I took some inspiration for the system from my art therapy colleague. She rotates her art therapy directives (not the term that she uses, but I cannot remember what she calls them) in a two or three-year rotation. This allows for consistent presentation with time in between specific session plans so my long-termers do not get bored with the same things over and over again. So far, it seems to be working for us b...

I am at the end of my second week of enforced rest and healing after my abdominal surgery at the end of last month. I have two and a half weeks left before I go back to my full-time job as a clinical music therapist at a psychiatric residential treatment facility in the associated school. This "rest" has been something necessary but difficult nonetheless. I do not do a good job of self-entertaining when work is happening without me. Now don't get me wrong. There are benefits to being out of work at the moment. First, I am able to rest while my body works on healing the connections that have been recently made. Second, I get bored with my own company, and that makes going back to work much easier. Third, it has been many years since I have had this much time off from work, so I am reveling in the opportunity to become this bored. I do better when I am occupied. Being on an enforced break from work means that my brain is grasping for any sort of thought that it can generate...

Here I am, sitting in my bed, and thinking about blogging again - second day in a row!! There is hamburger on the stove, cooking up for various different entrees this week, and I am watching silly sitcoms. I am debating whether I really want to leave my house today. I really don't want to, but I know I need to. Yesterday, I went to Michaels and bought some containers, watercolor paper, and the good erasers. I hit my exhaustion wall after walking around Michaels. I am not sure that I want to go out in the heat and humidity today. The problem is that I need to be walking so I either do it here or outside where it is hot. I bought some containers yesterday. They are portable file folder containers WITH an organizing section for things like pencils, pens, and super sticky post-it notes. As you know, I am a sucker for super sticky post-it notes, so having space for them in an organization tool is a wonderful thing for me. I was thinking about organizing tools when I was walking around t...

Wow. It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog - mainly because I have been in the middle of surgery, recovery, and trying my best to get back into something resembling normalcy. I have had good news - the medical issue that has been plaguing me has now been resolved. I have a new specialist to see next week, but that will probably be a formality rather than a continuing relationship. I am now sitting at home, recovering from having my gut cut up, rearranged, and put back together again. My surgeon has dictated (with my mother's support) that I will not be returning to work until the start of the new school year. So, I am sitting at home instead of being at the extended school year session at work.  I went to shop yesterday to get my steps in, and halfway around the store, I felt the exhaustion set in. I leaned on the shopping cart for the rest of the walk and then returned to my home. I am tired today, and my body is not really doing all the things that it sho...