Fun Friday: Remembering "Old" TMEs to Use in "New" Client Relationships

I am sure that I mentioned that I brought back an old closing TME (therapeutic music experience) this week. It occurred to me that I had not sung the song for years due to interns being in charge of sessions and bringing their own music into our music therapy culture. Many of my "standard" TMEs have gone by the wayside.

Right now, though, there are no interns at my facility. I closed that program in October after having zero applications for a year. For the next year and three months, I am bringing back the TMEs that I love and that my clients have loved over the years. It is time to rediscover things that are long forgotten and to introduce them to my current clients.

This week, as I have been encouraging my clients to select their own music interactions through decision making and exploration of the music room, they have been making requests. I currently have requests for using the parachute, using the traffic cones, and using the bouncy balls. Some of the behavioral health technicians (BHTs) that have been coming to music therapy for a long time have had their own requests as well. I will be teaching a song that one of my most proficient intern composers introduced to us - from a specific request from a BHT. I have an entire list of things that my clients and coworkers want to do in music therapy in the next several sessions.

I love this. I was surprised with the requests that have come up this week, but I appreciate them so much because it means that these TMEs have made an impact on my clients and my coworkers. As someone who is constantly engaged in musicking, it is easy to forget TMEs and to constantly be expecting oneself to create new and different things. There is comfort and structure and exploration to be found in the familiar, and I often forget that. I get bored with things and stop using them. My clients, though, might miss those familiar TMEs, and they might not have the way to communicate those feelings to me.

One of the things that I am trying to do is to offer more communication options to my non-speaking clients. I have used binders and spiral binding and my clients have destroyed each one. I am not deterred, though! I will be reprinting my communication choices this morning, laminating them, and replacing them into new binders! I will add my favorite emotion pictures and a big pencil case to store large visuals for use during sessions, and off we go!

Communication with my clients is something that I seek in every situation, but there are times when it is difficult. All I can do is continue to do better every day. It is time to head out into the windy spring weather to make binders and to explore my old ideas!! See you all soon!!