music, therapy, and me

As a vintage music therapist who has invested in records, cassettes, CDs, mp3s, and now streaming services, I have lots of music around my house. I have managed to give away most of my cassettes, but I have all of the records of my family as well as my extensive CD collection lurking in bookshelves in corners of my home. I have started the process of ripping my CD collection onto my computer to store that music on the cloud. This is not a process for the faint of heart, and it is taking lots of time. I have a CD drive in my computer - I bought it specifically because it had an integrated CD drive because this is a quest I always have at the back of my mind when I am purchasing things. I want to have my music available to me the next time I get a computer. This is a long introduction to the benefit that I am finding with this task. As I put on the topic line, I am finding old favorite songs again. Part of being a music therapist is a love of music, and I have many pieces that I have lov...

I figure that it might be time for a reintroduction to music, therapy, and me. If you have been here for a long time, then you know quite a bit about me. If you are a newer reader, then you may not know much about what I do, where I've been, or where I get my ideas. So, allow me to introduce myself. I am a long-term music therapist. I started my music therapy studies back in the last century, and I have been employed as a music therapist for 32 of my 34 years as a professional. For the other two years, I had job descriptions that were not specifically music therapist but in related fields. I have spent 29 years at my current job, working with children, adolescents, and young adults with developmental, intellectual, and psychiatric diagnoses. I work in a school associated with both local school districts and the psychiatric residential treatment facility where the school is housed. In that time, I have been through many policy changes, changes in the types of kids that we serve, and...

Please forgive me as I swerve from a helpful music therapy website post into a more personal website post. I am an introvert who was made to feel ashamed for my personality traits by teachers, youth group leaders, and professors. In a world that values extroversion, I am a quiet person who is not very prone to those qualities. It is difficult for me to attend gatherings of people, much less be gregarious and make people pay attention to me. It has taken years for me to be comfortable with who I am and what I need as a human being from relationships with others. It has been good to see that others are out there, feeling the same things I feel, and are writing about their experiences. One website that I particularly enjoy is Introvert, Dear .  The posts on this website are often relevant to me, but some are not. As an introvert (as far as you can get on each and every scale that I've taken) raised by an introvert and an extrovert, I felt understood most of the time by my parents. My ...

So, you might notice that I am a prolific blogger, but that I do not blog every day. I have a couple of rules for blogging that I have developed over my years. They are completely random, personal, and vary based on my mood. These, however, tend to be the rules that I look for in the blogs of others - even though they are completely my own. If you cannot write something that sounds coherent to you, then it probably isn't understandable by others. - This explains the gaps that I have in my blog at times. Take yesterday, for example. I started several different posts, but I just kept babbling and burbling my way through random thoughts. So, I gave up on writing. It just wasn't what I wanted to put out into the world. There are some topics that I do not want to write about. Politics is at the top of that list. It is rare that you will hear much about what is going on outside my immediate world because that type of conversation tends to make me feel more stress than specific things...

So, today is not a single song - it is a composer. My favorite composer, to be specific. This is coming from a post I saw randomly yesterday - "what is your favorite song from a soundtrack?" To be completely honest, I cannot answer that question.  I don't have one favorite song from a soundtrack - I have so many that choosing one just makes my brain hurt. So, instead of trying to select one song, I have selected my favorite composer, John Williams. There isn't much that Mr. Williams has written that I have not loved. I am sure that my love stems from my love of the Star Wars movies. That is the first movie that I remember seeing as a child - the first Star Wars movie - back when it was just called "Star Wars" - from the back of the station wagon at the drive-in. My parents had been to the movie the night before and decided that they wanted to see it again. They figured that their three children (I was the oldest at seven) would fall asleep in their pajamas i...

I tried very hard to write something yesterday, but I hit an exhaustion wall and crashed against it, hard. I kept staring at the screen, trying to jumpstart my brain into thinking anything other than "I am so tired." So, no post yesterday. We will see if today will be any better. I am still tired, but not as bone weary as I was yesterday. It is Friday of the first week of school and the first week that I am back doing music therapy things. Today is my least busy session day. I only have two groups, but that is one more group than I had last year on Fridays. I hope that the new teacher in that group realizes that the schedule changed and didn't try to come in yesterday while I was sleeping. I would actually be find if we changed the schedule  to what it is during the summer, but I also figured that it was a good idea to follow the schedule as written for a bit. Today is payday, which means that my salary will make a quick stop in my account before heading back out into the...

I am currently without something to write about today because I have not made it to my list yet. In fact, I need to write a list of websites that I use often in my work as a music therapist. I wrote about TPT a couple of posts ago, and that is the only website I can think of right now. My brain is a bit scrambled. I am tired. I am not able to think things through these days. Most of this is due to the month off that I had to take for surgery. Some of it is due to having to get back into a work routine. Some of it is due to the fact that I am still in the midst of some medical questions. So, in order to make these Wednesday posts something to actually write about, I need a list of websites. Places that I go when I need resources. Any suggestions? Right now, all I can think about is the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue. This website has provided me with correct APA formatting for many years - I highly recommend that site for anyone who is having to write any sort of academic paper. If ...

Guess who had to miss the first two hours of work yesterday because she left the overhead lights on in her car and drained her battery? If you guessed me, then you are correct. I had all sorts of plans for those two hours, but I was not able to complete those plans. I started the first day with clients in a fog of frustration. The first session that actually happened (because I was five minutes late for a group that is almost ALWAYS 10 minutes late to the session but not yesterday!) was the one with "that client" and "that other client." They both made it through the session, doing the bare minimum, but NOT engaging in screaming, tantrums, or aggression. WIN!! I then finished the other three sessions on my schedule and poured myself into my car. The battery worked, so I went home. One of my specialists called last night and left a message. I have to call him today. That increases my stress level a bit, but I will do it so I know what is happening.  Anyway... I am go...

I had lots of energy yesterday - don't know why and REALLY want to replicate that energy for always - so I finished several file folders that were just sitting and waiting for Velcro. That's all that they needed - Velcro on the folders, and they were finished. These are not resources for my students (who I get to work with again, starting today!), because they are just a bit too kid-like, but they will go into my resource room and inventory because they are finished.   I also loaded the dishwasher, went to pick up groceries for this week, read a book, ripped CDs to the computer, alphabetized the CD covers in the case, cooked a bit, made chicken salad with cranberries and almonds, and other things that I have neglected a bit. I am hoping that I will be able to walk when I get home after work, but who knows. I had absolutely no problem with my knees the entire time I was home, but now that I am back at work, I am hobbling around like my knees are 90 years old. I have no idea what...

One of the advantages of going through my CD collection and ripping music to my computer is that I am being reminded of music that I have loved over my life and career. One of these songs is by Fiona Apple who was part of the "angry girl singer-songwriter" movement that happened at some point in my past. Criminal  is one of my favorites from Fiona Apple. Okay, let me explain something about me. I tend to find one song by an artist that resonates with me, and I then explore more of the music. I am not always impressed by the other songs that those artists share, but I have many CDs that I got because I wanted a copy of the one song that I love. I used to be part of a CD club - BMG got me many CDs for less than $2 each back when I was budgeting for everything - so I was able to find many of the songs that I loved back then for very little money. (I never really paid full price for any CD.) So, with Fiona Apple, I have a couple of songs that I like and more that I do not like as...

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...