TME Tuesday: Taking the Time to Write Things Down

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 professional mode. My professor made us write things down, and I have continued to do that format since it helps me organize. I have added things to the original format, and I have removed things as well. My format works with my brain and with my advocacy journey, and I continue to arrange things in this manner.

Not every music therapist will find this format and strategy and system valuable, but for those who do, I hope that you can use this as much as you can. If you are interested in how my TME plans look and work, then I encourage you to check out this publication (this is the link to my TPT store - if you purchase anything from my store, then you are supporting a fellow music therapist with a little bit of money - thanks). 

That's all I have time for today.

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