music, therapy, and me

The last two days have been a bit challenging for me. I got hit on the top of the head by a client (whose teacher laughed and said, "My bad," when it happened - Gee, thanks for your support) on Monday in the first group, and then, when I started driving home, I started with an ocular migraine. The ocular sparkles happened for about 30 minutes and then the headache came. I called my Dad when it started and got the daily call over with because I knew that this one would be a doozy - and it was. Now, I am not entirely sure that the migraine was due to being hit on the head - I get plenty of migraines that aren't preceded by a hit - but I'm not entirely unsure of that either. I did try something new to eat in the morning before going to work, and that could have been the trigger as well. It is also possible that both things contributed to my pain. I will never really know, Anyway... I got home, took some Tylenol, turned on the tv, and got into bed. I then proceeded to sle...

...life intervened. I had a very productive weekend, full of cleaning, making things, and feeling good about myself and what was going to happen. And then, in one short message, my feelings got hurt and everything changed. I'm going to spare you the details because, basically, they are just too difficult to recount at this point, but it led to the impulsive decision to unfriend someone who I thought was a close friend but turned out not to be after all.  Several years ago, my mother read a book by Elaine Aron, Ph.D. entitled The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them . I remember her saying that she felt that the book described my childhood. I haven't read the book, but I am thinking that I need to read the version of the book written for adults...done - it's on my Kindle and ready for reading this afternoon. There are many things that are good about being highly sensitive. I think it makes me more attuned to what other pe...

I am starting to fill up the gaps in my music therapy schedule with individual music therapy treatment times. This is a great feeling. I'll start individual treatment on July 11th when we come back for our second session of our Extended School Year. I'll get things going for three weeks, reevaluate, and then start up again when the regular school session starts. I am excited about getting back into this type of therapy. I've missed it, but there's something else going on. I'm a bit scared. You would think that my 23+ years of being a therapist would make things lots easier for me to jump back into this type of therapy interaction, but I am a bit scared still. I think most of these feelings have to do with forced light duty and almost a year of being out of my comfortable routine. I know that some of these feelings are rooted in fears of being hurt again. I don't want to be hurt again. I know that many of these feelings are somewhat irrational, but they sti...

I am a member of a Facebook group for music therapists. This group is a good thing and a bad thing. Currently, there is a MAJOR discussion going on about censorship, thread jacking, attacks, purpose, and the way we are with each other. I've noticed that whenever there is a post that sparks controversy, there are three or four people who take it that direction. They seem to love arguing and will criticize every little thing that someone says. If a person asks for assistance in using a resource, song, or material with a client, we all of a sudden start conversing about conformity. "Why is the therapist forcing this client to participate in an experience that requires conformity with others." No actual consideration of the client, the client's goals, or anything about the client in the discussion. That was not the original intent of the postee. she just wanted an idea about how to use something with a client. The thirty-plus comments about whether we should make client...

One of the songs that I sang over and over and over again as a song leader in Girl Scouts was "Going on a Squeegee Hunt ." Now, you may be wondering what a "squeegee" is - good question! It is an imaginary creature that was probably invented by some obscure girl scout in Southern California many, MANY years ago! Anyway, similar to the traditional children's song of " Going on a Lion/Bear/Tiger Hunt ," the song takes you through a sequential process over, under, around, and through various obstacles towards a goal. Today, as I am sitting here writing, I am thinking about the poor squeegee being hunted. It is just in its cave, trying to do its squeegee things without interruption, when suddenly, BOOM! Some Girl Scout arrives to poke it! The poor squeegee does what it can - it jumps up and chases the Girl Scout all the way home!! This has not been a good work week. It is amazing how people will make mountains out of molehills. Here is the deal. I se...