What’s Gonna Work? Teeeeamwork!
I recently had the chance to attend a meeting for one of my clients to discuss her current progress and goals. This meeting included her music therapy team (Angela, Tara, and me), her supported communication therapist, her teachers, and her parents. This client has recently had a breakthrough in the area of communication, and we are all wanting to celebrate this and find every possible way for her to use her voice. She is nineteen years old, entering a pretty pivotal time of her life. This meeting was also to talk about how we can all set her up for success as she moves into this next phase of life and independence.
I was so glad to attend this meeting for many reasons. First of all, I am an only intern and I don’t think I would commonly get the opportunity to be a part of this conversation. Secondly, (I know I’m not supposed to have favorites, but…) this is one of my favorite clients. I have had so much fun coming up with new interventions for her and seeing her amazing progress week to week. Thirdly, I was so glad that her parents value music therapy enough for us to be a part of this core conversation.
We were all able to share what we are currently working on with her, specific interventions that are working/not working for those goals, and our plans for the future. I loved hearing about what her communication therapist is doing with her, and make some transfers/think about how I can use some of what she’s doing in my sessions. Her teachers shared what her day-to-day life is like at school, and how she can be using some of these communication tools during the school day. It was also really neat to share some of the things that have worked for her in our sessions. I’ve created several interventions based on her communication goals and preferences. It was nice to share those tools with her teachers and therapist. It was also great to share with her parents how well she has been doing in our sessions, how smart she really is, and reinforce how music is such a powerful, unique, and motivating way for her to work on effective communication.
This meeting made me realize the utmost importance of open communication among parents and the various treatment professionals that are working with their child. If we are all working on different goals, it isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing. We may all recognize different needs and prioritize them differently. However, we can all be much more effective for the client if we are working on similar things, bringing our own unique skills and practices to the table. I also realize that this sort of meeting isn’t always a realistic option for every therapist, family, or treatment team. Any form of open communication is important (even if it is an email or text chain), and may be the next step in the client reaching that goal.
Darby
