music, therapy, and me

Have you ever had one of those days? I'm having one right now. I am sitting at home, using my last scrap of paid time off because I just can't be a therapist today. I admit it. I am fragile, emotional, difficult to engage, and just plain old tired. This is the result of two friends dying in a little more than a week, on top of two others dying last month. I need some time to process my grief and since that usually involves lots of tears, it is better to be away from others right now. This is my pattern. I isolate until I can control my emotions. Yesterday, I slept. I started sleeping about 3 pm and slept until 2 am this morning. It wasn't good sleep, but it was sleep nonetheless. This morning, I felt that I needed some more time on my own before venturing out into the world of supporting others. As a result, here I am, writing a bit later than usual and trying to figure out my feelings about the things happening in the world - both far away and nearby. This is somethi...

It's that time again - time to go back into the writings of William W. Sears and the second chapter of Music In Therapy , edited by E. Thayer Gaston and published in 1968. Last Sunday, I went through the first part of the category of Music provides experience in self-organization (p. 39-41). Today, I am going to talk a bit more specifically about bits and pieces of these two pages in order to better understand what Sears means. The first subheading of the outline states "music provides for self-expression" (p. 39). I admit that I have lived with these concepts for so long that my first reaction is, well, "duh," but when I think back to those first exposures to these thoughts, this concept was a pretty big one. Music offers an opportunity for humans to convey emotions, thoughts, and patterns through observable behaviors (gotta remember that Sears was a behavioralist, so everything is couched in behavior terms). As I am reading through this text, I am force...

I am a proponent of being prepared for almost everything. This is a holdout from my active Scouting days - the motto is "Be Prepared," and that motto has served me well over the past decades. Part of how I approach music therapy sessions is certainly rooted in that philosophy - I understand that the way I envision a session going is only one of a myriad of possibilities. As a result, I try to think about many aspects of my life through this motto. Be prepared. I have a toolbox that I keep in my office (and my home office).  This is an actual toolbox, full of tools, and not a metaphor for the things that I do with my clients. Just want to make that clear. My toolbox at work fits in a pencil box (at home, it's a bit larger, but it includes all my tools, not just the ones that I need to maintain instruments, etc.). Here's what is included in my music therapy toolbox: Drum Key - when you need one, you really need one. It doesn't take up much space, so keep one...

This has been a week of sound play in my music therapy room. I introduced the new instruments to most of my students so far (only 6 groups to go). We've been playing with sound-making with the new guitars, ukuleles, and electric instruments. It's been an interesting week as I've watched my students try things out. Some just cannot wait to get their hands on the instruments. Others could care less. In my facility, I promote client choice, so if a student is polite and uses his or her manners, he or she can choose not to actively engage. I can pretty much predict who will and will not complete the exploration portion of the session. As we play with sound, I watch the responses and reactions of my clients closely. I control the volume of the amplifiers so that I can control how much sound we have in the area. When someone starts to show signs of arousal that might be related to the sounds, I adjust. I am not able to make a consistent sound on the violin yet, but I am con...

There is lightning in the sky this morning as I am sitting here, writing. Summer storms do one of two things around here. They either give us a break from the relentless humidity or they build that humidity even more. This time around, it seems that this storm will build the humidity. The forecast doesn't show any change in the heat soup that we are currently experiencing. I fell in love with storms when I moved to this state for my undergraduate education. I lived in a residence hall where I could see to the east for miles and miles. The storms would come in, and I could see the lightning and the rain spreading around a span of about 20 miles. We didn't have the same type of storms where I was from, so a good thunderstorm was something new to experience. My first summer storm experience out here was during the summer I was a  counselor at a Girl Scout camp. We lived in platform tents - canvas walls and a wooden floor off the ground. When storms would come through, you woul...

I have a little secret - something that I have kept close to myself for many years. I NEVER liked writing session plans. Wow. It's pretty nice to be able to admit that to someone other than my family members. Let me say it again. I have NEVER liked writing session plans!! Oooh, the more I say it, the easier it gets. My frustration with writing session plans started way back in my sophomore year of college when I started leading practicum sessions. My practicum supervisors would send back my plans and say things like "there needs to be more detail." I struggled with what they wanted, so it became a task that I dreaded. I finally figured out that the level of detail that my supervisors were looking for was a prose flow chart, and I was able to produce plans that satisfied their need for detail and my need for flexibility. (No one would let me draw a flow chart, though. I still had to write it out in a way that they understood. Interesting, isn't it?)  My ...

This week, we are going to play with our new instruments. Last week, my music therapy department was the recipient of a very generous donation of string instruments. In total, I received 15 new instruments and two new amplifiers. This is the week that I introduce my students to our new instruments. I am not exactly sure how I am going to do this. There are lots of instruments and not enough time to share them all. I may need to bring out some the first session and others the second session of the week. I need to be able to supervise (closely) the use of the instruments so we can keep them around for a very long time, but I also want my clients to use them. I'm in a bit of a thought loop about this - my thoughts go around and around. Do I bring them all out? Do I focus on just a couple each time? What to do? I think I will stagger the introduction. These instruments have made things a bit more crowded in my office. I don't have a good place to keep them safe from the folks w...