music, therapy, and me

I really do not like Wednesdays when we get back into our regular school schedule. It has nothing to do with the groups that I see on Wednesdays - they are the same year round. It has everything to do with the fact that Wednesdays are now back to being the halfway point of my week. In our summer session, Tuesday afternoons are the halfway point. I am not a fan of the five day workweek. Yesterday was rough. I ended up having to engage a client in a safety assist while other clients were in the music therapy room being supervised by my intern which is a technical no-no. We are back to being short-staffed and I had no support. Fortunately, I got through the assist without injury, but I am honestly traumatized by the injuries that I have received at the hands of my clients, and I was scared to do what I had to do. I did it, but I am not happy about it. Today, I will take myself into the same situation that I have been in forever. Not enough staff to support what needs to happen in sessions...

After many, MANY years of being a music therapist, I FINALLY figured out what HAS to be part of every single Therapeutic Music Experience (AKA: intervention, activity, application, interaction - whatever you call what you do with clients within the structure of your music therapy sessions) - are you ready? The DESIRED OUTCOME! That's it. That is the essential element of every single TME - you have to know what the end goal is of this form of therapy before you can accurately provide experiences that assist the client in accomplishing that end goal. I am embarrassed how long it took me to put this together. In my opinion, every single music therapy student should know this from the very first time that they sit down to write a therapeutic music experience! I have found that many of us know this thing a bit, but most of us don't realize the importance of knowing what the end goal is when we start the process of therapeutic intervention. I often think about this from the perspecti...

Last week, I wrote a bit about my latest quest to organize myself and my ideas. This has come out of many years of using different systems and finding that I didn't keep going with any of them. I turned to what I do well - planning in my planners - and adapted that idea into a new system. It's been happening for two weeks now, so I'm feeling pretty good about this particular system. (If you are interested in reading the original post, click here .)  So, it has been another week of brainstorming and figuring things out on paper in my little book. I keep it in my backpack so I can transport it from work to home and back again due to the fact that ideas come to me at all times. I have found several song post-its that have made their ways into the TME book for storage until I transcribe them into my TME database. My ideas book has several thoughts about upcoming uses for my new technology. My calendar book is the most unused part of the book so far, but I anticipate it will be ...

Well, hello there. It is time to start reading my book again - Emotional Processes in Music Therapy , by John Pellitteri. I am in Chapter Four and have reached page 78. There are about 160 pages to go before I hit the references. Let's see if I can get to the end of this book by the end of the calendar year... Anyway, time to head back into the ideas... Emotional States - p. 78 - emotional states are "inferred constructs." I like this statement because it means that all states have to be interpreted - either by the person experiencing them or by others who are observing specific behaviors. There are five theories shared in the text - each of these is based on the research and information from specific researchers. Physiological-Behavioral - James-Lange Cognitive Appraisal Theory - Lazarus Cognitive View - Implicit Memory Model Physiological-Cognitive - Schachter & Singer Social-Cognitive - Sociology, Cultural Psychology In these different foundational emotional theori...

I have both a to-do list and a not-to-do list. The not-to-do list is one that I visit every so often - not as frequently as the to-do list, but I have recently found that I am needing to rethink what is on the not-to-do list. At the moment, there are items on the list that are no longer relevant or important to me, so it is time to revisit this not-to-do compilation. Now, because I try my best to be a positive type person, I will try to remember to write these things down in a way that allows me to frame these not-to-dos in ways that encourage me to do things a bit differently rather than assigning blame or shame on myself. The Not-To-Do List I will do my best to remember the following things... Rush - It is not necessary to rush through things or experiences or conversations. There is no place that I have to be that is more important than watching a sunrise or talking to someone who needs some connection. Worry - One of my favorite quotations (that I first heard in Van Wilder) is ...

My word for this year is "Deepen." I selected this word way back in December 2020, and it seems to encapsulate all of my intentions for the year of 2021 - it worked for me, and it still does. I am thinking I might want to keep the same word for 2022. For me, this word means to take what I know and learn more. It means to explore stronger relationships with my clients in and out of the music therapy session. It means to actively explore things that elude me and to seek out new opportunities. This past week, I have been taking some time to deepen my knowledge of Google Slides as a teaching mechanism. If you are new here, here is a bit of background for you. As a school-based music therapist in my particular job, I have done almost every role that others have done EXCEPT live telehealth situations. Many of my peers in our Monthly Music Therapy Meets have been doing sessions virtually with their clients. I have not had to do that, mainly because my facility does not have the tech...

My posts for the past two days have been nothing but complaining about all the stuff happening in my life, so I have been at a loss about what to write that isn't just me being in the throes of grief and constant stress. So, this is me trying to acknowledge what is going on in my life while still trying to present a firm and calm position. It is not going to be easy. The latest stressors that have appeared are broken toilets in my home and my sister's home being in the path of a wildfire. Ugh. We have had enough going on.  Anyway... Let's see if I can come up with something to write about that is not all about me. I'm tired of writing about these things, so it is time to take a step towards finding different content topics. Julie Palmieri over at Serenade Designs often offers suggestions for blog posts and different marketing ploys, and I enjoy reading those suggestions. I do not often write about her ideas or use them in my own posts, but they are out there for anyone ...