Music Therapy Maker: The Thoughts are Percolating...

The best thing about being on vacation for a long period of time is that I start to get new ideas and start feeling the itch to be back where I have all my stuff around me to accomplish those new ideas. (Does that make sense?? I am still jet-lagged and exhausted - Mom and I went to bed around 7pm last night.) I am getting to that point now, but I still have a week at my destination, so I have to write things down and defer them until later.

A friend and I did some peer supervision on Saturday, and she mentioned that she was introducing the concept of instrument families to her clients. That started my brain, and now I am designing an instrument family edition of sing about songs. I could start the visuals here - I think all of the instrument clip art is in my cloud - and will probably end up doing that this week.

I have all sorts of Zoom things happening this week - an interview, an I/DD support meeting, another for a discussion about music therapy influences and mentors. I have already had two meetings - one for peer supervision and the other for OCMT, Inc. When I have meetings, I tend to stress over whether things will go well, but the only one that really stresses me right now is the interview just because I am not exactly sure what they want from me. I just wanted to talk about small business things in this state, but I ended up being scheduled into an interview with the question, "Are you looking for part-time or full-time work?"

So, I will take my book downstairs to brainstorm some questions and start to figure out things like what I want to do with my life in the somewhat near future. The instrument family edition of sing about songs will be a good distraction from the upcoming Zoom appointment. I need something creative to sink my teeth into to help me with the other information that is swirling in my head.

One of the things that has already happened is my sister found two more cases of my favorite regional soda. This means that I do not have to go searching for it all - it is already here! This is a pineapple-orange flavored soda that I love but cannot find outside of this state, so I tend to hoard it and savor it when there are certain circumstances happening - either good or not so good - Cactus Cooler is what I reach for! I now have three cases to take back to my home with me, and that should last me for the time I have left in that state. Three cases. Um, and I no longer have to go out for soda...

Anyway...

I am going to sit down with my book and start designing this edition. I also need to work on my website, look into business licenses, figure out where I can go for some funding options, and do all sorts of things for my future that I have no idea how to do. All of this while spending time with my mother in her space and not my own. I have a trip book to assemble and lots of things to pack in my car for my eventual trip home, so things will be hopping around here!

Instrument families - this was a staple of my music therapy groups just three months ago - a way to identify instruments by their similarities. When I was a school-based therapist, I used instrument families to structure some of our experiences and sessions. We would sort the instruments, talk about how instruments are played, and group instruments based on what we knew about them. I figured that many of my students had not had general music education services due to their behaviors of control, and I could offer some of that general knowledge during music therapy sessions. It gave me a structure to work within, and it seemed to work well for many of my clients. They could figure out what instrument went into which family with some assistance. It became something that I depended on to help me strategize what we were going to do during sessions. Of course, all plans and strategies can go out the window at any time, so my family discussions were always changed when needed, but it gave me some structure to cling to. As you know, structure is my foundation.

So, I will sit down with my book and start to outline some instrument family games and TMEs. I think I will start by designing some instrument family cards. One instrument per box - people who purchase the cards can use them in many ways, and I will base the sing about instruments on those many ways. I can certainly come up with six ways to use instrument cards with no problem, so why not offer that to other music therapists and music educators??

Keep an eye out here for release information...

Thanks for being here!

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