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December 2014

One of the best (and worst) parts about working in our field around the holidays is the fact that we get to spend every day singing the holiday music that we love during our sessions. It’s impossible to be a music therapist and not be in at least a bit of a holiday mood. There’s a reason it’s called the hap-happiest season of all. These songs reach our clients in ways that pop songs can’t, because they’re associated with such a powerfully emotional time of year.

However, it is easy to forget that for some, this emotion is not necessarily entirely positive. The older adults we work with, specifically, often struggle with the nostalgia of the holiday season.

I was running a (Christmas Themed) Music Therapy session, to which only two elderly residents showed up, an old man and an old woman. Half way through our second song, I noticed the old man laughing a little bit.
“I’ve got a surprise for you…I’m Jewish!”
He spent the rest of the session telling me about his wife, who was Christian, and with whom he celebrated Christmas. The one song he really loved was White Christmas- which we played 3 times, over the course of the session.
“Me and my wife…we were like this. Best buddies. It really was something special. She was my best friend.”
His wife passed away March 2014, and he shared with me that he’s just now becoming able to speak about her.

It’s so very important for us to remember as music therapists that our primary tool, music, may elicit these more difficult emotions- and that is perfectly okay.

Wow. I cannot believe it is my last month of internship. I blinked and it was over! There have been many challenges and many learning opportunities during internship. Let me walk you through the learning highlights I had each month.

Month One

Month one was crazy! You are learning so much at one time. I observed so many music therapists. Thankfully, I took A TON of notes. Throughout internship when I was confused or it felt like I needed a refresher, these notes were great to look back on. In month one you get to observe therapists and then start to try interventions as they implement them. It’s great to put yourself out there and try new things. I have built up so much confidence since month one.

Month Two

Month two I began leading full sessions by myself. I learned so much about how to plan interventions according to different NMT techniques. It was also a test of my time management. I had to plan a lot, make visuals, create new songs, see a full caseload of clients, and of course practice! I learned that if I work hard now, it will become more natural in the future.

Month Three

In month three I felt as though I started to develop my own style. I felt comfortable with the clients that I was seeing and was able to try different interventions. I have learned to be comfortable with myself, take my time, and most importantly be silly when seeing kids. Music therapy is fun! We are working on so many important goals, but how can you create interventions that pull in the client so they can have fun? I found this to be important while working in a one on one setting.

Month Four

This month I worked hard on my case study and project. I challenged myself to read a lot of research articles. I began to take data and study how Developmental Speech and Language through Music impacts speech prosody. For my project, I tried out a lot of different interventions to see which ones I wanted to include in my song book. I picked interventions that were engaging and successful. I also challenged myself by changing my schedule. I had the opportunity to see 13 clients back to back. This challenged by endurance and know know that I absolutely love it! I also got to welcome my junior intern, Emma. It was great to have someone to work with! She gave me fresh ideas. It’s wonderful to talk to music therapy students from different schools and compare experiences. As music therapy students from different areas, we can learn so much from each other.

Month Five

As I continued to work on my case study and project, I learned that I had to plan less for sessions. My supervisors know that I like to have every detail planned. This month I challenged myself to plan less. It was hard at first, but I’ve learned that I enjoy writing songs on the spot. Especially on the day I see 13 clients, I can’t plan every second of my day. I can overlap interventions and do improvisation. This is an important skill to have as a music therapist. It tests your ability to think on your feet as well as your intuition. I am lucky that I had practice with this because you can plan and plan, but sessions never go exactly how you want them to!

Month Six

As internship comes to an end its great to reflect on the experiences I’ve had. I’ve learned so much, it’s hard to put it all into words. I am so glad I’ve been able to develop my own style as a music therapist. I am also grateful that I can leave internship feeling confident and ready to work!

Rachel

Sometimes we get wrapped up in work so much that we forget how to take care of ourselves. How are we supposed to take care of others if we haven’t taken care of ourselves?

Self care can be anything. You could see a therapist, you could be on a daily exercise routine, or meditate. There are so many choices. I’ve consumed myself so much in internship that I often forget to take care of myself. I’ve learned that self care is something that cannot be ignored. I love yoga and I love being outside. Every opportunity I get, I do one of these things.

As I continue into my professional life, I want to explore more about myself. I want to find different activities that I enjoy can serve as self care. Sometimes we need a little mix in life.

What do you do for self care?

Rachel

Three weeks of internship left. How crazy. The time has gone by so quickly. It’s amazing how much you can learn in a six month period of time. I’m checking things off my list that seemed so far away just awhile ago. Slowly thinking about closure with my clients (luckily I get to leave my clients with Christmas fun!). Here is a countdown for my last three weeks.

1. Comfort. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how I’ve become so comfortable with my clinical skills. I’ve pushed myself to do so many things out of my comfort zone. When you step out of your comfort zone, you actually become more comfortable. I feel like I can be more silly with my clients now.

2. Style. In internship you start by observing, and then trying what you see. So, I first started by watching my supervisors, and then doing as they do. Once I got that down, I was able to develop my own style when treating clients. I’ve been so lucky to be able to try new things in order to develop this style. As one of my clients says, “It’s good to try new things!” Always a good reminder.

3.  Balance. I push myself. And I will admit sometimes during internship I pushed myself too hard and now I’ve learned to take a break. To say yes when friends want to do something. Music therapy interns work hard, but self care is so important. Find a balance that works for you.

Rachel

As music therapists, we have to write a lot of songs. Sometimes we have time to think through the songwriting process and other times we have to write them on the spot. Throughout internship I’ve had the opportunity to write many songs. I have always loved songwriting, but writing for clients is so different from writing songs for yourself.

One process that is effective for writing for the clinic is from Laurie Farnan’s Composing Music for Use in Therapy.

Taking yourself through the songwriting process is fun and exciting. It’s also great practice for when you have to think of a song in the moment.

First, think about why you are writing your song. What is the purpose? Focus one task. It’s great to write down a list of key words that relate to the task. That way, you can stay on topic.

From this point, write lyrics. Create simple, repetitive lyrics.

Next, set the words to music. When doing this, make sure you use a small, singable range. Think about the range of the client that you are writing for. Accent your target words as well. Make sure they stand out.

We don’t always have to use this process, but it is a great process to use. Sometimes when I’m driving a melody will pop into my head and I’ll set words to that. Other times I’ll use a chord progression generator to create a melody. Piggyback songs are a good option too for some clients, especially if you are writing a song together.

There are so many ways to go about writing a song. Practicing these ways will help you when you have to think of a song on the spot.

What is your songwriting method?

-Rachel

The Strengths Finders test is a great way to discover yourself as a person as well as how you can work with others around you. Researching your strengths makes you more aware of them so you are able to use them in everyday settings.

One strength that I have that I feel has come out in my internship is individualization. This means I am intrigued by the “unique qualities of each person.” People who have individualization as a strength can help people work together by capitalizing the strengths of each individual on a team.

Another strength that I have is futuristic. I look ahead, over the horizon to see what’s coming next. I like to set goals for myself. I love thinking about ideas that could happen in the future.

It is important to know your strengths so you can get a sense of how you work with others. It is also important to figure out how others can work with you. For example, if i have a vision, I need to find someone who has the strength of putting things into action.

What are some of your strengths?

-Rachel

This Ted Talk by Temple Grandin is so inspiring. Grandin is a professor at Colorado State University. She is also diagnosed with autism. In her Ted Talk she inspires people to step away from verbal speaking and use visuals in order to communicate effectively with someone with autism. Grandin talks about how her brain works in associations. In fact, she compares it to Google Images. If you say one word she digs through her catalog and pulls up pictures that she associates with that word.

Everyone’s brain is different. Learning how people with ASD think is so important. Grandin talks about three different types of thinkers: visual, music and math, and verbal logical.

Unfortunately, sometimes people focus on what a person with autism can’t do. Learning the strengths of the different types of thinkers allows one to focus on what an individual can excel in. Using visual supports for visual thinkers is so important because they pull up those “Google Images” in order to process something. Understanding how people think is important so we can pull out their strengths and see how they work together.

-Rachel

Hello everyone! My name is Emma Byrd. I’m the new Junior intern here at MTCCA, hailing all the way from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.

Starting internship is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting (and terrifying) steps that every music therapy student gets to take. It’s a moment in which we all have to step out of the pond we’ve gotten to know so well and into the great big ocean of internship. My professors liked to say that we would learn 10% of what we needed to know in school/practicums- and (hopefully) everything else during the 6 months that we’re in internship. In the past two and half weeks, I think I’ve learned more names, interventions and client goals than I have in my entire MT journey thus far.

The clients we serve at MTCCA are incredible people, with incredible stories and music to share. One of my favorite parts of every week are our “jam sessions.” Jam Sessions are 1-hour group sessions for adolescents with cognitive and physical impairments, during which we drum, learn social skills, and- of course- we jam. I have to say, there is nothing quite as satisfying as watching kids who spend their lives working extra hard to succeed despite their disabilities just let loose and drum. What’s really amazing about these jam sessions, though, is how seriously musical these guys and gals are. Of course there are moments when chaos descends, but there are just as many moments during which everyone comes together, singing the same words, feeling the same groove, and, almost magically, finding the “pocket.” I am left, after every jam session, totally inspired. Because of these groups, I don’t think I could ever again underestimate the clients we work with. Everyone has music- and everyone deserves music.

In my latest post I talked about all of the “ah-ha” moments that happen during internship. It’s these moments that make you excited and eager to learn more.

Something that I am excited to learn about as I prepare for my clients is creating purposeful interventions. According to Dr. Thaut, sometimes we plan sessions based off of music activities or we address goals very broadly. Sometimes, I would plan sessions and say, “This intervention works on articulation, breathing, and attention.” Yet, how will I accomplish a lot if I am trying to work on everything at once? If I am using ONE goal to drive the intervention, more gains will be made.

I’m learning to break down each goal to create specific and meaningful interventions. Dr. Thaut’s Transformational Design Model (TDM) has been extremely helpful when doing this. Throughout my internship I have been assigned to fill out the TDM for different clients. I also like to go through the steps when planning a session on my own. The more I go through these steps, the faster I get at thinking through it. Thinking about your approach as you would if you were a PT, OT, SLP, or vocal coach is very helpful. It helps give that intervention a specific meaning. What would they do? How can you put music to that?

An important step of this process is generalization. I always have to think about the generalization piece. For kids, this step always makes you think about how you can involve the parents and even other therapists.

Soon, I will be able to think through the TDM very quickly. We are musicians! Think of practicing these steps like practicing your instrument! It’s hard work, but soon it will become second nature!

Rachel

 

Hello everyone!

 

These past few weeks have been filled with ah-ha moments. Things in internship are just starting to click. It’s such a great feeling to start piecing things together.

Symposium is a great place for these moments. The other day we had a discussion on music and the brain. I prepared and read some handouts and blog posts before symposium started. I understood the material, but during symposium something clicked. One thing that clicked in my mind this day was how the brain works during music and movement. I have used movement with music in a group for toddlers with speech and language delays as a practicum student. I was always so excited to see how these toddlers started babbling while we were singing and moving around the room. It fascinates me how hand movement can facilitate babbling. This group really sparked my interest in speech and language.

 When talking about music and movement facilitating speech in symposium, I had my Gestalt Moment. I was able to discuss with my supervisors about how movement and music can help develop speech. I was able to place this practicum experience into my internship in experience. Sometimes in practicum we are concerned about playing the right chord or what song comes next. Now that I am in internship, I am comfortable with my musical skills and I can focus more on my clinical skills. I am able to take the theories I learned in school and apply them in the clinical setting.

 

It is so exciting to take what I learned in the classroom and use it in a clinical setting!

 

-Rachel