music, therapy, and me

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...

I spent a long weekend laminating things and that's about it. I don't think I left my apartment other than taking trash out since Thursday evening. I took a couple of naps, made some food, wrote a bit, and spent time reading books and working on my Portuguese. It was a quiet weekend.  I think this is the best part of being grown up and being an introvert at the same time. I enjoy time on my own (most of the time) and I can keep myself occupied with the stuff that I have available to me (again, most of the time). I did spend a bit more money this weekend than I usually do - darn that Amazon, but it was a good weekend. I often find that three-day weekends are more relaxing and productive for me than a week and a half off. It is strange, but by Sunday, I am often ready to head back to work. I get bored being at home and want to head out and be around people. When I have longer breaks, I get over that boredom and find things to do at home. I get into a napping groove and just don...

I have a mantra that I say to myself before sessions that I just know are going to be a challenge for me and for my clients. It is a prayer, but it could also act as an affirmation if the person offering the thought does not believe in a deity or any sort of spiritual concept. Mine does start with an acknowledgement of my creator, so feel free to use this or scoff at it or change it to fit your belief system in any way that you need or want to. Here it is: "God, help me to be the therapist that these clients need in this moment." Variations include the following: God, help me be the best music therapist I can be for these clients right now. God, help me find the way into relationship with this group of diverse clients.  So, this mantra is something that I sit and say to myself on Tuesday mornings before my contentious group of young men who are "too cool" for following directions and doing work. Well, some of them are that way. Others are eager to engage and partici...