Comments on: Why Silence Can Be More Powerful Than Sound

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 00:57:38 +0000

In reply to Mary Whyte. Such a great story Mary, thanks for sharing :)

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:15:57 +0000

In reply to Maria Simeone. Yes I agree! Thanks for chiming in Maria.

By: Maria Simeone

Maria Simeone — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 05:16:13 +0000

I certainly make a point of building “silence” into my interactive concerts for kids! So important for kids to experience silence as a part of the music :)

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 23:41:31 +0000

In reply to ginnyd. Ginny, I could not agree with you more. I am teaching this year at University of Miami and I can completely relate to the importance of giving our students time to process and answer questions before supplying the answer for them. This allows them to work through things and talk through them without us giving them the answer. I appreciate your comments and they are a great reminder for me!

By: ginnyd

ginnyd — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:14:13 +0000

I always thought I used silence in my sessions (and I probably did to some *small* extent). The first time I really became cognizant of using silence was in a college teaching course. Learning to ask a question and count to 10 slowly before offering any sort of prompt to students (college students!). As soon as I recognized that silence as a motivating force, I used it in every aspect of a clinical and professional interaction as I could. I think of it like this: if I set the expectation that I’m going to jump in a “save” them from a challenge, they will only perform to that level. Raising the bar and the expectations, I saw more growth in every way. I realized I had taken some control and power from my clients/students and have learned to give it back.

By: Mary Whyte

Mary Whyte — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:05:47 +0000

I think silence is very important! I try and leave a lot of time for the client to respond if they have Autism or a similar diagnosis where it takes a while to process but sometimes I forget or don’t leave enough. Just in a session last week I had a client give me a number response to a question I’d asked after I had already moved on to the next intervention. At first I was confused at why he was shouting out “19” but then realized it was from a couple minutes prior and he was just getting to process what I had asked. I continually need to increase my patience and realize it is not awkward if parents or others are in the group, but important to wait.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:19:00 +0000

In reply to Rachel. I love that anecdote Rachel, thanks for sharing :)

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:10:43 +0000

Silence was a particularly important aspect of music therapy with one client I have worked with. Not only was it important for me to leave space and silence in a way that meant her vocalisation or drum beat ‘completed’ the music, I also found after she had accomplished something new, leaving up to a minute of quiet gave her space to process what she had achieved and chance to ‘regroup’ herself before we moved on in the music.

By: JoAnn Jordan

JoAnn Jordan — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 20:32:15 +0000

Much of my work is group work with elders. When I introduce silence, usually a group member will break it. Allowing them that control can be important.