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Monday matters: Accept!

I am back to work. I am done with my maternity leave. I saw one group of kids two times this month, but aside from them, I hadn’t seen any clients until today. I was beginning to get used to having time at home with my baby. Now I have to adjust to working with a baby at home.

My theme this week is to accept, already. I have to accept that this transition is difficult and that I won’t find a routine for weeks to come, probably. Clinically speaking, I think of how my clients feel about transitioning back to working with me. Many of my clients worked with another music therapist while I was with my newborn, and the rest decided to take a break from therapy for that time period. In a session today, I worked with two clients who don’t use speech often. I had to guess and assess how they felt about my being back with them. So many of my clients have decisions made for them. I hope they are able to accept this transition easily.

I leave with a shot of my baby, already moving, moving, moving.

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Acceptance

I found this TED Talk to be inspiring and thoughtful, as most of the talks are. In this talk, I resonated with the speaker’s main sentiment that people don’t need to be changed, they need to be loved.

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Song and artist share

I am so fortunate to have worked with a fellow music therapist here in the Twin Cities who is a fantastic singer-songwriter by the name of Lynn O’Brien. I bring her up because I found myself in a session today that simply needed to have within it one of her songs, called “Still.”

Please do yourself a favor and listen to an excerpt of this song here.

There are so many fellow music therapists who perform and record on a regular basis. Another of whom I need to share with you is Angie Kopshy, and I look forward to writing up on some of what she does in the near future! Please let me know if you’d like any other pairs of ears on your original music.

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So many books and articles to read

I have always wanted to be an avid reader. I introduced An Article Monthly Project months ago, and I did find that making the time to read the articles was satisfying. But, it did not last.

One good book I am reading (in pieces) is The Dynamics of Music Psychotherapy, edited by Kenneth Bruscia. I’m quite sure many music therapists either own it or have heard of it, but it seems to be a good one to go back to whenever I so need.

If there so happens to be someone out there who wants to discuss any of the chapters, I’m all for it. 

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Monday matters: Finding connection

Finding connection clinically

I had one client today with whom I had a lot of trouble connecting. I brought her favorite instruments. Though she is non-verbal, she is often quite vocal, and she seemed to be engaged vocally at the beginning of the session. Then, she turned away. She didn’t take any instrument to play, nor did she use a certain iPad app that she’s historically seemed to love. I asked her to sign “all done,” or to tell me she was through with certain experiences in another specific way. She did neither. Most of the session, she kept her body turned away from me.

Writing about it and reviewing it now, I think I would’ve best served her by listening to her more actively. Like I said, she was vocalizing at the opening of the session. Not until we had only 15 or so minutes in our session did I truly engage with her vocally. Then, she turned back toward me. Then, she made some eye contact. Only then did I feel we had connected. I believe she felt more heard at that point.

Those first minutes were difficult. I attempted to be silent in order to see if she would choose an instrument without any kind of perceived pressure from me. I attempted asking her questions and giving her two ways to answer. But, in the end, our connection was fused when we sang together.

Finding connection professionally

I have hopes for the peer supervision group we have here in the Twin Cities. Those hopes include having a stable space where we can come together as professionals and ask our questions and receive honest advice or validation. I also hope that we use music to improvise together, to share songs, and also to address specific needs that are happening in our clinical lives. Perhaps at some point we can host speakers. Finding this type of professional connection would be so very beneficial, at least for me, being in private practice. 

I wonder if anyone out there has anything to say about finding connection.

I’m writing in terms of clinical and professional connection, but I’d love to hear input on other kinds of music therapy-related connection.

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Seeking music therapy in childbirth

I had the privilege to meet with one of my internship supervisors for a few minutes a couple of weeks ago. I wish I stayed in better touch with her, but I was happy to get to see her for just that short amount of time. Inevitably, we spoke about the fact that I am expecting, and I asked her if she knew any music therapists in the Twin Cities who work in sound birthing. I recognize that I am a music therapist, but those therapists who work in childbirth are not known to me; I have heard there are a few who work at or through a hospital in one of the suburbs. My former supervisor said she knew of a few therapists to contact, but that I should really be thinking of my own playlists in case I can’t have a therapist with me.

Hm. My own playlists? I am pretty accustomed to thinking of my clients’ music, but my own is sort of another story. I’ve been feeling tired of my music, but I have found one blogger whose “new tunes” posts reliably inspire me. I guess it’s time to start putting together a few different lists– stimulative, sedative, active, etc. 

Do any of you work in sound birthing? Did you have a music therapist at your birth? Tell me stories.

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In honor of National Autism Awareness Month: What music expresses

Several of the clients I see have autism. Some use speech to communicate, others do not. Some find the ability to express their needs through various gestures, some sign language, and other physical indications; others do not. Some of them have a combination of verbal and physical communication. Most of my clients with autism, however, find ways to express themselves within and through a musical medium.

By providing a client with a variety of instruments, both melodic and rhythmic, I find that I can notice a trend in the way he or she plays an instrument. Choosing melodic over rhythmic might give me some insight into a client’s emotional state; perhaps this client is feeling a need to explore different sounds within this timbre. Maybe he has more expressive tendencies at this time that only a melodic instrument can allow. If the client is playing in a very high register, I might believe that he is expressing happiness; in a low register, maybe the client feels sluggish or down. I may interpret the choice of a rhythmic instrument in a variety of other ways. When the client plays with staccato strikes, I might believe he is angry or frustrated. If the client’s tempo is quick, with light strikes, I may think he is feeling anxious or scared.

The information that is relayed through music will usually facilitate a better understanding on my part of a client’s emotional state. Musical conversations can at times ensue, but other times a client might need to simply vent to me. My job is to absorb all of this information and find the best way to validate and support this musical expression, and continue to do so throughout all of the transitions and various challenges my clients might face.

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Welcome, Spring! An update from Sound Matters Music Therapy, LLC

Ah, yes. I have been away for quite some time. Frankly, this Winter offered me too much to combat, and some things– like writing as much as I really want to do– fell by the wayside.

However, I plan to be back here on a regular basis. I truly believe that the darkness and the cold of Winter tore apart my ability to create a cohesive work day. Now that the sun is out (even though it was at freezing temperatures today), I am feeling rejuvenated.

To serve as a brief update, I will say that I found out that I am going to be having a baby at the end of August; our MinnTwin Music Therapist Group has met once to discuss the happenings of the Minneapolis area music therapy scene; I have moved residences (and therefore offices); I am continuing to write as a guest blogger at Child Development Club; I was in a car accident that took me out of work for one week (which could’ve been much, much worse); and I am finding more stability in my definition of my practice as a music therapist.

Find my last blog posts at Child Development ClubChild Development Club. 

Any Family Can Be a Band of Musicians

Shake and Pass Your Egg Shakers

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Child Development Club

Happy new year!

We’ve been traveling in the Midwest and in New York City over the past couple of weeks. This is our first full week back at work. There really is comfort in routine.

I am taking this opportunity to guide you to a new website to which I am a contributing blogger. The site is Child Development Club, and it was created by Laura Efinger,  M.A. OT/L, CEIM, who lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. I’m excited to be a part of this community as it has writers of a variety of professions (including one other music therapist) who live all over the world.

Child Development Club’s mission:

The Child Development Club was created to support parents, care providers, educators, administrators, therapists and other professionals by providing relevant child development resources. Our goal is to provide international resources that adults can utilize with children, so children can thrive and be successful in activities of daily living no matter where they live.  Our goal is also to provide a resource network that students can easily access and utilize on their own.

Feel free to find my latest post here.

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A thought on Thursday

I had another enlightening supervision session tonight. Thursdays are my really busy days, and I’m always a messy pool of goo when I finally make it to 6:45 and talk with my supervisor, but regardless, I took away a great thought:

“The therapist’s job is to say the unsayable.”

I’ve been noticing one of my clients offer resistance in regard to potentially uncomfortable emotions she seems to be experiencing. I say “potentially” and “seems to be” because alas, we haven’t gotten too far into some of these issues. (Which is not to say that we must; just to say that I’m aware of her blocking certain subjects.) Anyway, the above quote is valuable to me because I could actually speak the words “I’m noticing you don’t seem to want to talk about this anymore” (or anything else along those lines), as opposed to drifting over the silence or the displacement or however else that discomfort and unease is manifesting itself without acknowledgement.

That’s my very brief thought on this very big idea. Happy Thursday.