music, therapy, and me

There are two good things about this Halloween - first, it falls on a Friday which means that I will be at home when my clients wake up from a fun-over. I do not have to wrangle them into post-holiday music therapy sessions after a break in their schedules. The second thing is that I live in a part of town that does not have many kids, so I do not have to buy any candy to hand out. In fact, my lights will be turned off this evening. I am not a fan of this holiday, so I am thankful it is almost over. My Halloween sessions have gone over with a resounding sigh this week. No one has been really interested except for the last two groups which means that I finally got into my groove during the last two groups. I have ideas for how to make my Halloween carols a bit more interactive for those with limited communication opportunities, and I will put them into place to release on TPT before Halloween next year. I love it when ideas pop into my head this way! I do not have a costume. I think I w...

I am getting ready for the Music for Kiddos Symposium which will be happening eight days from now. I signed up as soon as I could to save a bit of money, and this will be most of my professional development for this year. I have never attended one of these before, so I am interested to see who is presenting and what they are presenting about. A friend of mine is also attending - I don't know if she will be able to do the live presentation or not, but we will be watching the same things eventually. That's kinda cool. I am experiencing lots of "lasts" these days. I am getting ready to retire from my job as the staff music therapist after almost 30 years of working in a job that I thought I would have for, at the most, 5 years. Surprise! As I am gearing up for my last Halloween parade, I am in a nostalgic mood - very much affected by the massive headache caused by skeletal misalignment. My spine is giving me fits again, so I am hurting up and down. That's neither he...

Well, it is Wednesday. This day used to be the exact center of my week. I had as many sessions ahead as I did behind me when I reached Wednesday, but that is not the way things are now. Now, Wednesday means that I have finished 10 sessions and have 11 sessions ahead of me. It is almost the middle of my therapy week, but not quite. I have five sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I have four sessions on Thursdays, and two sessions on Fridays. It's not a perfect schedule for me, but it is what I have to work with, so I do it. This schedule is much better than the one where session times were staggered throughout the day - that one just scrambled my brain for the year we had to do it. No session ended on the hour or the half hour. They do now because it was just too confusing to do a staggered schedule. There are some things that we do for the benefit of ourselves, and getting the schedule back onto a system of switching on the hour and the half hour was for the staff rather...

Every so often, I am reminded that simple is often better than elaborate. Sure, visual aids are wonderful for reinforcing concepts and assisting with comprehension, but my feeling is that any therapeutic music experience has to be able to work without those aids. Visuals are to enhance the music, not take over for it. If the music doesn't work without the visual aid, then the music becomes the secondary therapeutic medium - an enhancement, if you will. This week, we are listening to the music of performers born in this month. We have been also playing instruments. I have been selecting the instruments this week rather than letting my clients pull whatever they want from the cabinets, and I've picked some strange ones as well as some really cool instruments that are often overlooked. After a very short demonstration for the unfamiliar instruments, we go into selecting songs and playing instruments. I do not use any visual aids in this part of our interaction, but the next part, ...

I am currently trying to figure out how to release a free file to all of you, but I am getting bogged down in the details of how to get this going. I have the file ready, but I am unsure how to get you to that file. I can do it through a quick website update, but I need some time to do that website update. This is causing me to change some plans, but that is fine. Anyway, is anyone up for a November freebie? I am going to release information about a free resource this week. I am. I just need to get things organized on my side of things. In the meantime, I am getting ready for (ugh) Spirit Week and Halloween at work. I am going to share my Halloween resources with groups this week after we talk about our October Musicians of the Month. I have books, carols, games, and all sorts of Halloween-ish stuff. I am working on the pattern for a Halloween lapbook, but that will probably not be ready to share by Friday. It is spurring my creativity, though. I love lapbooks, but I haven't produc...

I am sitting on my sofa in my front room, waiting for the rain to arrive, and eating noodles. I am blogging a bit later than usual because it is Sunday, and I don't have anything to do.  Well, as always, that isn't true, but I have no outside obligations which is very nice. I could go to see Tron, but I am not all that interested in leaving my house. It was another long night - something is going on with my sleeping patterns, but I am not stressing about it. This all brings me to this Sunday's song. As I write these posts, I spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what to write about. It varies from day to day and mood to mood. I spend time brainstorming and trying to figure things out, but I never know if anyone else even cares about what I write. This always brings me back to the songs that I keep just for me. The one that I will always keep for my own benefit and use without sharing it with clients is Dar Williams' What Do You Hear in These Sounds?  I love thi...

I did not post yesterday because I didn't get out of bed until 6:10 (a time when I am usually on the way out of my town towards work). I was in the car and on my way at 6:18, got gas for the car, and STILL made it to work 5 minutes before my official start time!  For the past two days, we have been watching Pixar shorts and have been using different materials to investigate how we play. One pod just doesn't play at all - those are our kids who are more involved developmentally rather than psychologically. They do not know how to play or even explore different situations. We are going to watch Pixar shorts today. It is now 6am, and I am going to work late again. I slept until 5:15 this morning (very irregular). I am wondering why I am not able to sleep recently - I am going to move my vitamin intake to the morning rather than the evening. It may be interfering with my pain medication uptake. That might help with sleeping because this is an entire week where I have not been able ...

It is Wednesday, and I am heading back to work after two days off dealing with a migraine that just wouldn't release. I finally was able to get warm yesterday around 12:45pm, indicating that most of the migraine was over. Since then, I have had 2.5 hours of sleep, a persistent smell of a fire, and am not looking forward to trying to figure out what I am going to do with my groups for the rest of this week. It is 4:53am. I am exhausted. I have to take a shower, drive to work, and try my best to be therapeutic for five very different groups of humans before driving home and crawling into my bed. I think the fire smell from late last night (started at 11pm) came from my neighbor's fireplace and pulled itself into my home. That is going to get old quickly. Nothing happened in my home other than the smell, so I wasn't getting too much smoke or anything else. It was unsettling on a night when other things weren't up to par. Insomnia is no fun, and I get it every so often. Whe...

So, I spent some time last Friday writing songs that are now sitting in a book on my desk at work while I am sitting here, trying to get over a migraine that is affecting my eyes, my balance, my pain levels, and all that stuff. I wish I had brought them here so I could work on them, but I didn't, so there is no reason to wish. That's not today's topic, though. Today's topic is writing songs, and so let's talk about what happened on Friday when I sat down and focused. The first thing I did was brainstorm song foci. I wanted to write some explaining songs - explaining some of the strange social conventions that occur as part of being human right now. One of the things that I wanted to explain is that two things can be true about something at the same time. I have a client right now who just wants to argue every little thing. The client just does not understand that two facts can be true. So, I wrote a song about it. I also brainstormed two other song topics and wrote ...

I have been challenged to promote the tools, materials, and books that I have developed over the years to let people know what is going on over here at musictherapyworks.com. I have a freebie to offer for this month, but I am not quite ready to release it yet - keep an eye on this blog and my website for more information towards the end of this week... It's a trick or treating song!! It is kinda in the form of social story song - kinda - and goes through picking a costume to what to do when someone opens a door. It has original artwork as well as a way to work on sequencing. I hope it will enrich the TME options that you have for this October. If you want more TMEs, then check out my TPT store for the October editions of my sing about songs . The full TME to the freebie is available in the sing about October - year one  edition, but you have to get the freebie to get the visuals!! Anyway, I hope you will keep an eye on my social media spaces to get access to this therapeutic music ...

It is Sunday again, which means it is time to tell you what I am listening to this week. I can sum that up in two words - Not Much. EEEEEKKK! `Sorry, just had a spider rush me on my desk. It was a lean, leggy one which usually indicates recluse of some sort. I've been seeing things moving out of the corner of my eye all morning - and NOW a SPIDER! Ugh. ANYWAY - I have been ripping CDs again, so I have been going through my books and looking through my collection to see what songs I am going to add to my favorites playlist. I already have about 200 songs, but there is always room for more! I still have my CD burner and lots of CD blanks, so I can make CDs to listen to as I commute to and from work. I know - old school, but that is who I am. Anyway, again... As I am going through these CDs, I am constantly reminded that there are so many songs that are important to me for so many reasons. Some of them are songs that I have shared with special people. Others have meaning only to me. S...

Well, as of right now, I haven't been excused from the curriculum training that has nothing to do with me or my job. So I am gearing up for yet another wasted day. I had to take my medication 2.5 hours late, and now I am coming out of the side effects. I am trying to figure out if I can make it to work in the dark without issues or if I need to take some of my precious time off this morning.  I am planning on bringing my songwriting kit to the training so I can at least get something useful done today. As I am sure you can tell, I am not a fan of these types of trainings. I am not able to use the curriculum that is being presented, so going to three days of training on how to run reports and assessments and to use the curriculum is just not useful for me. In addition, I have to take additional training for my professional development that is not offered by my job, so that means that I have to use extra time for ethics training and music therapy-specific courses that I could accompl...

Today is a 12 hour day for me, followed by an inservice day tomorrow. We have only one evening of parent-teacher conferences because the majority of our parents are not local, so we do most conferencing via telephone rather than face-to-face. We therapists are never involved in conferences, so it is an extra four hours of being at work but just because it is on the schedule - not because there is anything to do. I hate these days, but at least we are down to only four rather than the ten we had several years ago. We have to work an entire day with clients before we do these late nights and then we have to turn around and come in for training the next day. It's difficult to do such a turn around with my medication schedule, so I tend to be cranky and in lots of pain on these days. Tomorrow is another useless inservice day. I am not looking forward to it at all, but it seems that it is mandatory to attend - at least, we haven't been told otherwise. There is nothing more demoraliz...

What next Wednesday? That might be a good theme for writing since I tend to need some sort of organizational tool to help me figure out just about anything these days. I can tell you that getting older and having things happen with the endocrine system affects just about everything that goes on in a woman's body - including brain function and itchy ears. Just you wait, "Enry 'Iggins, just you wait! I am currently gearing up for a 12 hour day tomorrow and a wasted inservice day on Friday. We are going to learn how to run data analysis on our new curriculum, but I am not allowed to use the new curriculum because it has nothing to do with my job. That doesn't seem to matter to the administration who thinks that it looks better to have a full room than whether or not the training is applicable to staff members who are barred from using the curriculum program. There are about eight of us who are not able to access the information at all, but we still have to show up to the ...

When putting together a therapeutic music experience (TME), I always strive for a complete, well-thought out, and stimulating plan. I want something that my clients will complete, even if they think it is stupid to begin with. I want something that will help my clients move towards their therapeutic outcomes. I want something that I enjoy as well. So, I have a formula to help me accomplish these things. Now, just because I have this formula doesn't mean that I hit the mark every single time on every single statement offered in the paragraph above this one. This formula, though, means that I am thinking about what I produce and share with my clients, so nothing is a bad thing. Formula element #1 - There are no wrong ideas - only things that don't work right now. This is important because any creative impulse is valuable. My attitude has become "this might not be right for this group of clients, but it will work with others someday." So, if an idea for a great GIM sessi...

Last weekend, I sat down and made a handmade journal. It has about 80 pages in it and is made of scrapbook paper. I put in a coptic stitch binding, and it looks pretty good to me. Now, it is time to decorate the thing.  This is the point where I struggle. I am not someone who likes lots of frou-frou and gee gaws in my journals, but others do. I decided to use a sticker set I got from Stickii called "cozy critters" as the basis of my color palette and theme for the journal. Many of the journals that I see on social media and other places are packed to the gills with flip outs, journal pages, tuck spots, hidden compartments, and pockets galore. There are stamped cards and stained papers and all sorts of things that I just find make my own journaling process more complicated, so I don't bother in my own books, but this seems to be what sells, and I want things to sell. I find that forcing these types of projects places me into a place of suspension. I just cannot move into t...

I took some time off from ripping music to my computer, but I am ready to get back and get going again. I brought one of my very large CD books down from upstairs just to see that it was the one I finished earlier. So, I am going to trudge back upstairs and get the others that I have to still go through. Three more huge cases and one smaller case to go - the smaller case has holiday music only, so it fits in the smaller case without difficulty. As I stroll through my CD purchases from long ago, I am constantly reminded that I really love all sorts of songs. It is difficult to name a favorite singer or group or song, but I do have my favorites. My music library is eclectic to say the least. Throat singers and monks through to rap and hip-hop artists. I have CDs from groups that made one and never were heard from again. I have recordings that are greatest hits compilations from artists that had long careers. The books of CDs that I have and continue to keep in my home even though there a...

I tried to write every day this week - just something on the screen - but I did not make it. Thursday and Friday were quiet over here - I woke up late, had too many things to do before work, and just didn't feel the writing muse taking over. I am going to strive to do better.  I have a couple of websites bookmarked that have random story line or journal prompts available to me. Today's prompt comes from a website that offers  journal prompts for those enjoying music , and my random number generator selected #33 as my prompt. Here goes... Imagine you are a music video director. What kind of video would you create for your favorite song? Egad. This is not my favorite type of thinking. I am not really a visual type of person. I don't dream much (except for nightmares), and I have never been able to successfully engage in a GIM session. As a result, music videos have never been something that I have enjoyed or thought about much. The second half of the prompt - my favorite song...

I have been resisting the siren call of streaming services lately. There are so many shows that I want to watch that are behind a subscription wall that makes it easy to think that I could just watch more television if I paid more money. I don't want to pay more money, so I resist the call to take out my credit card and sign up for them all! This morning, however, I decided that it was time to become a member of PBS.  This was partly a political decision and partly an impulse decision. I like many of the shows on the PBS app, and it is a way to support something that has been part of my life for all of it. So, I signed up as an annual member of my local station. I have never done this before, but I am looking forward to being a member. I believe in Sesame Street and Arthur and Donkey Hotie, and I like the idea of helping PBS continue, even if it is only a little bit. For now, though, I am going to download the PBS app onto my travel tablet and start watching things that are offered...

Here it is, Tuesday again, and I am sitting here wondering what I am going to write about. Tuesdays are reserved for therapeutic music experience (TME) development, so here goes. I am a good improviser, but I forget what I improvised pretty much as soon as I am finished with the improvisation process. I will think, "wow, this is really working. I need to remember this song," and as soon as I change to something else in the clinic, my mind refuses to remember the music - all of it! As a result, I have had to learn to release those clinical improvisations as music therapy moments that are fleeting and not meant to be captured. It always makes me a bit sad when I hit on something that is really working with my clients that I cannot replicate afterwards, but I still cannot remember... All of this is just a prelude to the topic for today - writing things down. I have been writing TME ideas down for my entire music therapy career - preprofessional learning mode as well as professio...

I am less of an early bird than I used to be. I used to spring out of bed at 3:45am, get my writing done, talk to the cat, and get to work early enough to have about 45 minutes of quiet in my music therapy room before interns arrived. I would stay an extra hour after my contracted hours were up to accommodate the needs of interns, so I was working 9-10 hour days every day. I no longer do that, but I am also not springing anywhere these days! I don't know if this is just a regular habit for aging, but I am always tired and am finding it difficult to release myself from the comfort of my bed. Perhaps I should make my bed less comfortable?? It may have something to do with the amount of medication that I am on right now, but this has been going on even when I am not on my allergy medication. For right now, I am going to close this post because it is a shower day, and I am running later than usual... Does this actually count as a blog post?? Not in my mind, but at least I did something...

I am someone who reads science fiction and has always been suspicious of artificial intelligences - HAL, Sonny, David, O.T.T.O., Pat from Smart House - they have always been a bit spooky for me. As a result of my healthy reading and movie watching habits, I do not like the ways that AI is taking over some of the basic things that I love. Even as I write, there is a little icon suggesting that I use a tool to generate my ideas and blog posts. I just don't like it. I was recently encouraged to start using a common tool to help me figure out some of what I want to do with the rest of my life. When I first tried it out, the tool told me to "come back when you have answered these questions." Ugh. I was using the tool to generate the questions. I tried it again yesterday. This round was a bit better, but I still felt the creepiness overtaking me as I was using it. It finally gave me a printable product, so I printed things out and then moved on. I am not going to go back for a ...

It is October, and the fields are being harvested around my home and workplace right now. Since the dusty crops are being chopped and transported, I am showing my signs and symptoms of my typical respiratory issues for this year. I can't breathe smoothly, and my nose drips out of nowhere. I am exhausted, and I am not sleeping through the night anymore. All of this is affecting my mental well-being as well. The exhaustion leads me to being snappish and negative in my views. I am less creative when I am not feeling well. I am guessing that there are so many things happening in the world that are getting through my insulation that I am manifesting these things in my mind and my body. It is strange, but I have not had the energy to write or even think for some time now. Part of this is compounded by the fact that I have recently received two rejections of ideas, and that has bruised my ego a bit. I am feeling irrelevant, silenced, and hurt. All of these things are part of how I am work...