music, therapy, and me

It's here again.  Songwriting Sunday, and I think I am ready to talk a bit about how I write songs. Today, I think I will focus on my goal-based compositions. Anyone wondering what that is?? Here we go. There are times when I have to write songs to support and rehearse particular skills to match my clients' goals. The topics are not ones that are easily supported by precomoposed music, so it is my job to make the music that my clients can use in places other than music therapy. So, how do I do this? (NOTE: Please keep in mind that this is how I do things, not the only way to do things - you find the way that works best for you, okay?) I start with the goal and an assessment process. If my client's goals are already known to me, then I do a quick baseline assessment. If the client has a brand new goal, then I start from the beginning. I write task analyses for the different skills or levels of mastery for the goal. For example, if I am writing a goal for toothbrushing, I try...

One of the things that I find when I speak to interns and music therapy students is that there isn't much classroom time devoted to learning about how to put together a therapeutic music experience (TME). [Just so you know, this is the term I use to refer to what I do with my clients in their sessions - I was first introduced to this term by a music therapy intern from Western Michigan University and it resonated with me as a way to think about what to call what I do.] So, here is what I do and how I think about each piece of my TME file as I am developing the things we do. Purpose :       This is where you identify all of the therapeutic skills and elements that you will be addressing. (e. g., To increase eye contact; name recognition; peer identification; fine motor control; entrainment; impulse control) This needs to be a complete list. Follow the brainstorming process explained in consultation. Source :       This is where ...

I spend lots of time talking about therapeutic music experience (TME) development and why I think it is important to have a well-thought out experience before you enter the session with a client. I do what I do partly because that was what was expected of me during my undergraduate training and partly because having this system in place has helped me explain what I am doing to non-music therapists. I think it has saved my job a couple of times, and I know that it has started other music therapy positions in other places because of this process and system. Let me explain... Over my career, I have come across people who just see what I do as entertainment. They often have difficulty seeing all the things that happen when music is introduced into an environment. My TME plans have helped me explain things in a way that illustrates that there is more to music therapy than "happy children making happy sounds." As I have matured as a music therapist, I find that having my TMEs in a ...