In last week’s blog post, I shared about a musical experience I facilitated where clients were prompted to create and perform their own rap.

I also let you in on a little secret.

I created and performed my own rap along with the clients and was so nervous that it caught me completely off guard! My heart was actually pounding as a stood up to share what I had written.

That moment was a turning point in my career as a music therapist and the magnitude of that event is only now becoming clear to me.

Never before had I done what I was asking my clients to do.

Sure I model movements during sessions, I play the drum and ask a child to imitate what I’ve played, and I shake along during an instrument playing activity.

But never before had I put myself side by side with my clients and actually taken part in the musical experience.

The feelings it brought up were surprising.

I felt nervous and shy. Not only were my clients watching me, but staff members and teen volunteers were watching too. The entire time I was wondering “What is everyone thinking of me?”

That moment opened my eyes. Every day we ask our clients to do things that may make them feel uncomfortable or nervous.

We ask a child with Cerebral Palsy to stretch their arm out to play the gathering drum.

We ask a teen with autism to look at the child next to them and shake their hand.

We ask a child with speech delay to stand up and rap.

That moment got me thinking about how important it is for us as music therapists to think about what we’re asking our clients to do. How might we be vulnerable enough to put ourselves in their position to feel a bit of what they’re feeling. How would that change our practice?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as I work through my thoughts and feelings in this blog post! Leave a comment below to start the discussion.

Image courtesy of mrpuen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The post Why Vulnerability is Critical When You’re a Music Therapist appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Things have been moving full speed ahead here at Wholesome Harmonies! We’ve been adding new music therapy clients and piano and guitar students every month, which is fantastic!

All of these new clients have gotten me thinking about  how we here at Wholesome Harmonies take very specific steps to ensure we are providing the highest quality services.

One of those steps is opening the door to facilitate communication with the client’s treatment team.

This step alone has taken the level of service we provide to a whole new level.

How do we do it?

First, we obtain written permission from parents to communicate with the other professionals that are working with the child. This includes speech, occupational and physical therapists, ABA therapists, psychologists, counselors and teachers.

Once we’ve obtained permission to communicate, I ask the parents to bring me copies of all relevant evaluations, therapy reports, and progress notes.

I then review these documents to see what the child is working on in the other therapies and what goals I might be able to target during my music therapy sessions. Although I do have my own goals I create based on my evaluation, sometimes the speech therapist has very specific vocabulary words she is working on with the child. Or the teacher has a certain letter she is working on with the child that week.

Open communication allows me to target those things in a way that is different and also to work on generalization of those skills in another setting.

I also send out my music therapy evaluation and treatment plan to the other professionals on the treatment team. This is beneficial for a number of reasons.

First, it allows the rest of the treatment team to see that the child is receiving music therapy!

Second, it educates. The treatment plan clearly outlines the non-musical goals I am addressing in my sessions, which can clear up any misconceptions about what the purpose of music therapy is.

Finally, it opens up the lines of communication. I make sure to include all my contact information on my reports so the rest of the treatment team can easily contact me if they have any questions or any input (which is always welcome!)

Oh and an added bonus? You just put yourself on the map as a music therapist in your area and may benefit from referrals!

All in all it is a win-win situation.

How do you communicate with your client’s treatment team? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Image courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The post Come Together…Right Now appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

In my work with children with autism and other special needs, I use the V7 chord to build anticipation and prompt a verbal response. (“It’s a….it’s a…..dog!”)

I use a 6/8 meter to facilitate swaying side to side.

I use a rhythmic, upbeat strum pattern to cue quick movement patterns like shaking the legs and arms.

However, I’ve come to find that one of the most powerful tools I have at my disposal is….

SILENCE.

That time you pause as you wait for a client to process the directions you’ve given. That space between the notes. The time you wait for your client to give you a verbal response….or eye contact…or another behavior you’re trying to elicit in your sessions.

This is something I used to struggle with. Every moment of every session was filled with sound. I was strumming the guitar…I was praising….I was singing…I was giving verbal directions. All of that can be incredibly over stimulating. Soon none of it stands out and it all becomes tuned out.

So I started slowly incorporating more silence into my sessions.

I would strum a V7 chord as I sang “Your name is……” and let the chord fade away into silence as I waited for the response.

Rather than prompting again by repeating the phrase or saying the client’s name hoping he would repeat, I would just wait.

I would listen to the silence and know that the client was processing what I was saying and formulating a response.

When I did this I began to see that my clients had much more to give than I was allowing them when I covered it up with sound and music and my talking.

They knew what I was asking and knew the response, they just needed time. And silence.

I’m curious to hear…have you experienced something similar in your practice? How has incorporating silence into your sessions improved your practice?

Leave a comment below…I’d love to know!

Image courtesy of [David Castillo] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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