music, therapy, and me

So, I am in a season of change and metamorphosis. There is just no real way to define how I am feeling at this moment because it changes from moment to moment. As a result of the emotional rollercoaster that I am currently on, I am feeling the need for structure and boundaries and routines. So, I am going to be structuring my blogging a bit more than I have recently. Sundays will be for music sharing, thoughts, and therapeutic music experience development using songs that others have composed as well as shared with the world. The problem with this type of blog post is that I am often unsure what songs to use in posts like this. I try to select something that would work with a variety of populations, and I will strive to continue to highlight how you could use these pieces of music with everyone that you do music therapy with during your week of sessions. If you read this blog regularly (and I know that some of you do), then you know that I like having structure and templates are my thi...

During holidays, my sense of time gets scrambled, and I live in a state of time fugue which is simultaneously refreshing and terrifying. This happens no matter where I am and no matter when I am doing holiday time. So, this blog series is helpful because it grounds me in a routine. Today, apparently, is Tuesday, so that means that it is time to write about therapeutic music experiences. During the Advent season this year, our theme was "I'll Be Home for Christmas." We sang or listened to the song every week for the past four weeks. That song is always a bit bittersweet for me since I live away from my family and always feel that song a bit more than I am comfortable sharing with others. I had to sing it, and it was a bit rough to get through. Now that I have not been home, I feel like this song's meaning resonates more and more. So, let's talk about taking this song and making it something to use with clients. We have looked a bit at how I take an object or materi...

I've been out of the habit of looking at songs and making them something to use in a therapeutic environment lately. That's because this summer, I've been bored out of my skull with all things routine, so I haven't done my usual writing themes, but the summer is almost over for me (school will be back full-time in 21 days), so it is time to get back into what gives me some structure...back into my routines! Over the past year, I've tried to take my Sunday mornings for some cognitive exercise. Specifically, I have selected a random song from either my sheet music collection (wow, I have LOTS of sheet music) or from my iPod (and, I have LOTS of recorded music as well) and then analyzed it the way I like to analyze therapeutic music selections - looking at all of the various elements of music available to be selected, adapted, and used.  I have a graphic organizer set up in my computer files that helps me with this concept. **NOTE: If you are interested in gettin...