music, therapy, and me

Here we go. It is the first day of the second semester of the 2025-2026 school year - AKA, my last semester as a school-based therapist (as far as I know right now). I have five groups today - none of which are the same as the groups that I had on Tuesdays just two weeks ago. I have a vague idea of what I want to do with them (I have to laminate some resources that one student in particular will wrinkle immediately), but nothing is set in stone. I was anything but efficient yesterday. I did put some stuff into my car, but it is still sitting there, waiting for my attention. I received my Christmas boxes yesterday, so all of that stuff is scattered around my living room where I am currently storing the stuff I am bringing home from work, so things are getting to my overload state. Once I am finished with this post, I am heading upstairs to take a shower, get some water, and try my best to figure out what I am going to do with almost all of my students this week. I know what I am doing n...

'Tis the season for working with a new group of co-workers who do not understand what music therapy is or how music therapy works in my therapy space. I have had to ask every single one of them not to yell positive reinforcement over the music - whether it be my singing or the recordings that we are listening to or the improvisations we are creating as a group. I got spoken to by the principal about it as well. Now, I am not against positive reinforcement - not at all. I am against co-workers yelling over the therapeutic medium in order to give such positive reinforcement. I am against the interruption of the music processing and creation that occurs when people start to yell in order to be heard over the music. I am against the interruption of instruction. I am tired of constantly being interrupted by people who do not get what I do and how I am doing it. I am trying not to take it personally at the moment, but I also feel like I am repeating myself over and over again. The new st...