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Music, the co-therapist

Music is such a great co-therapist. What a revelation for a music therapist to have.

I can know this, and have known it intellectually, for years, but much of the time I have trouble trusting that the music in my music therapy sessions works more effectively than anything else.

One of my clients tonight had a lot of trouble transitioning into our session together. So much so that he balled himself up into a chair and decidedly did not communicate with me, verbally or otherwise. I sat with him in quiet before laying out a number of instruments, including the drum sets and kits on GarageBand (a favorite of his). I then played piano for a few minutes before he unwrapped himself and explored the instruments in front of him. Soon we had a conversation on our instruments, and I’ve never felt more connected to this client than I did tonight. Though he’s able to communicate verbally and has done so unabashedly in the past, we related to one another differently, and seemingly more clearly, tonight.

It’s nice to have another therapist in the room.

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Kind of like that dollar bill trick Johnny Cash did

I felt like a fantastic guitarist today because I wore a sweater.

I’ll explain.

If you play ukelele with any variety of strum patterns, you know that there are quite a few patterns that use muting or slapping. (I’m sure there are correct terms for these techniques, but I just don’t have them on hand right now.) I’ve never been great at that kind of strumming, but I’ve always loved it. Today, while at my first site, I noticed I was affecting my guitar strings the way I’ve always wanted to affect my ukelele’s — all because my sweater was getting in the way of my strumming.

I’m glad that that Saturday-after-Thanksgiving-that-doesn’t-have-a-name Sale got me something good.

I was adding suspensions and letting my sweater do its work all day today, and alas, I wasn’t boring myself with the guitar skills I have.

What will I do in the summer, when there are no sweaters to be worn?

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November catch-up

I know I’ve been absent from my website and blogging. All I can say is, my list of daily to-dos shifted considerably for a couple of months there.

A short catch up of what’s going on at Sound Matters:

  1. I have a clinical supervisor with whom I Skype (when Skype works) or talk on the phone (when Skype doesn’t work) once a week. I am so happy that I have professional support when I feel stuck or confused about a situation.
  2. I presented to two different groups earlier this month. One was a group of college students at Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota, who gather on Wednesdays for what they call “Wellness Wednesdays.” I also presented to the Parish Visitors group at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were interested in different ways to take music to the people they visit.
  3. The LLC is a little over one month old now. I am still in the process of establishing insurance reimbursement ability.
  4. The peer support group that I head is taking a break over the holiday season and will resume in January. I look forward to seeing all of my local peers and learning about what new trainings and conferences, etc. that they’ve attended.
  5. The Music Therapy Association of Minnesota had its fall conference at the beginning of the month. The sessions focused on guitar and drumming techniques.
  6. I bought a djembe that I love dearly.

Our Thanksgiving was great, and even though it’s really hard to believe, Christmas season is upon us. We’ll see where that takes us.

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Macalaster College

Thank you to Macalaster College for having me present during Wellness Wednesdays. I enjoyed the group and look forward to answering any further questions.