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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.

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Darby

Camp Jam was by far one of the best experiences of my internship. Seeing the passionate dedication of the volunteers and the effect that they had on the kiddos’ growth over the week was incredible. The change I saw in the kids’ behavior, engagement, and attitudes from the first day to just the third day was amazing. On the first day, the kids were getting used to the space and the schedule, and they were not engaging too much with each other. By the third day, three of the younger kiddos were forming conga lines during songs, shaking hands and high fiving each other with no prompting, and asking good conversation questions.

I was able to lead some of the younger groups’ music therapy time, and it was such a joy. We did some social interaction songs, shaker songs for attention and following directions, etc. It was a different experience for me, as my typical schedule includes adult and older adult groups, and individual sessions with kids. Blending those skills into doing a group with kids was really interesting, and I’m thankful to have had that experience.

Each day of camp, there is a featured guest musician who comes and plays a set for the kiddos to dance, sing, and interact to. The guest musicians that I was able to see were wonderful. A few staff members and I got a bit excited when Steve Denyes did his “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” because we all either currently use or have used his version in our sessions. The heart that he has for sharing music with children was a beautiful thing to witness. The kids loved all of his songs, and they were singing along and interacting with each other throughout his whole set. You can watch Steve’s live performance from camp here: https://www.facebook.com/themusictherapycenter/videos/10156409528450102/. You can also check out his band here: https://www.hullabalooband.com/.

If you ever have the chance to get involved with a Camp Jam program, you won’t regret it! Whether you are a high school or college student thinking about music therapy, a musician with a love for serving others, or you just love working with kids, Camp Jam is the place to volunteer. If you have kiddos with special needs, this camp is truly a place of growth, belonging, and fun, and might be a great choice to keep in mind for your plans next summer.  If you are interested, you can sign up to volunteer here: http://www.themusictherapycenter.com/volunteer-services/.  

 

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Darby

 

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of posts that tell us all the different ways to practice self care. And while there are absolutely some great ideas on how to show yourself some well-deserved lovins, sometimes these posts lose focus of the most important piece of the puzzle…. YOU!!

So before you fall into the rabbit hole of Pinterest posts that tell you how you should be self-caring, find out what really speaks to your mind, body, and soul.

Maybe exercising isn’t your thing (ME ME ME), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to take care of your body! Eat a healthy meal or take a nap!

Don’t like reading? Watching The Office before bed is PERFECTLY fine, too.

However, it’s important to be intentional and avoid the trap of…

pseudo-self care! [insert audible audience gasp]

Pseudo-self care is the jealous third cousin, twice removed, of true and genuine self-care. It disguises itself as self-care but it is a small, temporary fix to a a larger underlying issue. If you’ve got a lot of work to do, binge-watching Once Upon A Time probably isn’t going to make that stress go away. If anything, it may take up so much of your time and increase your stress levels in the end.

https://giphy.com/embed/3ohuAwaX6Q13W78tdSvia

Remember, “Self-healing is productive while self-indulging is counterproductive.” This is quoted from a self-care blog by Leslie Santana (the link is at the end of this post!)

My point is…

  1. Your self-care doesn’t need to be Instagram worthy, as long long as it takes care of you, and 2. be intentional.

Here’s a worksheet to help you start thinking and get started with a plan!

Enjoy,

Patty

PDF attached below!

I LoveME

Resources:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/4-tips-to-improve-your-self-care/

 

Songwriting can be an effective tool in music therapy, no matter the population or age group. Songs can be used to teach social concepts, process a difficult situation, learn material like a phone number/address, and countless other ways. Though there are songs out there that can apply to some client situations, making a song directly applicable and original to the client is important. For those with little songwriting experience, this may seem like a daunting or intimidating task. However, there are some basic tools and tips that can be a helpful starting point when first starting to song-write in sessions.

First it is important to clarify the goal of the songwriting, and that will help define how the song can be written. Is it the process of writing the song that’s important? Is the goal to teach information? Is the goal self-expression? These are all questions that can be asked prior to deciding how the song will be written. The therapist can compose the song alone and bring it into the session to teach it, the song can be mostly written by the therapist with structured help from the client, it can be a collaborative, 50/50 process, or the client can direct the songwriting process with support and minimal help from the therapist. For example, when using a song to teach important information like an address, it may be better to compose it ahead of time and introduce the completed song in the session.

The song itself can be a piggy back song, a parody, a mnemonic device, or a completely original song. Piggyback songs are songs that have melodies of already existing, familiar tunes, but the words are changed by the therapist. Parodies are similar, with melodies of existing songs, but the words are generated by the client and it can have a comedic effect. A mnemonic device is used to teach information like a phone number, so it is typically a simple melody that can be chunked/chained, and move from the short term to long term memory. When writing an original song, the lyrics, melody and harmony should be kept simple, straightforward, and age-appropriate.  Keeping the goal in mind here is also important to select the appropriate songwriting technique.

Piggyback songs are my favorite to use in sessions right now. For one of my clients, I recently changed the lyrics to “Twinkle Twinkle” for a song we use to work on the push bells as a warm up for typing on a keyboard. The lyrics are “*name* can play the bells just right; playing the bells will help me type. When there’s a word I want to spell, I can practice with the bells. *name* can play the bells just right; playing the bells will help me type.” She loves it because it is a familiar melody, it says her name, and the words explain why we are doing that exercise. These songs can be fun and motivating for clients, but it is important to keep in mind that some clients may get frustrated if the words to their favorite song get changed. In this instance it may be good to use a song that the client is familiar with, just not their favorite song.

To read more about how songwriting can be used in music therapy settings, check out this blog http://www.makejoyfulmelodies.com/blog/3-ways-i-use-songwriting-in-music-therapy/. If you’re in the process of songwriting and having trouble, check out this blog about overcoming songwriters’ block https://musictherapyconnections.org/2016/07/9-tips-for-overcoming-songwriting-blocks/.

Darby

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Sources: Angela Neve Meier, M.M., MT-BC, NMT  http://www.themusictherapycenter.com/?page_id=5624

As technology continues to grow and evolve, we as music therapists must keep up with the many ways we can adapt and utilize new apps, programs, and products in our sessions. Being a young music therapy intern, I grew up utilizing technology, and I enjoy learning about new and innovative products or apps to complement what I’m doing in sessions. However, it can be a difficult challenge for parents of kiddos using technology or therapists who didn’t grow up using technology to learn the ins and outs of this constantly changing tech environment. There are countless apps that can be motivating, challenging, and add something different in sessions, but sometimes that learning curve can scare parents or therapists away from utilizing them.

Our team recently attended an Apple Store workshop, and the learnings and experiences were wonderful.  The Apple Store puts on daily workshops to help members of the community learn about and explore their apps and products. The workshop we attended was based heavily on garageband, a free app that comes already installed on the iPad. The techs took us through the app step by step, explaining the features and different ways we could utilize it for our clients.

Some other workshops Apple does are Parental Visibility, Apple ID and iCloud, Photo Projects, and many others. The parental visibility workshop covers family sharing, guided access, home-sharing, and anything else related to parental control. This is a great resource for parents of kiddos using AACs for communication, as well as therapists who want to have a better understanding of these features on theirs and their clients’ devices.

Apple Store workshops are a free and accessible way to learn more about ways to implement technology into a music therapy practice, or to better understand the technology you are already using every day. To find out Apple Store Workshops happening in your area or to look into setting up one of your own, check out https://www.apple.com/today/.

Darby

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As a new music therapy intern, I find myself constantly looking for things to better understand my new clients and set them up for success. After a few weeks of observing sessions and listening to symposium presentations, the concept of “attention” has been brought up many times. Maintaining attention seems to be the key part in all therapeutic contexts, and I’ve recently learned about it in more detail. 

When working with a client with any cognitive disability, it is important to be aware of and constantly tracking their attention. Maintaining a level of attention is crucial to be able to work on reaching any other goal. 

To keep clients on track for their attention goals and encourage them to improve their attention, knowing these 5 levels of attention is super helpful. These are listed from the simplest level of attention to the most difficult and cognitively challenging. If a client is having trouble with some of the higher levels of attention, that may mean that they need to master a lower level first. 

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Here are some tips to support clients’ attention and avoid distractions:

  • Create an a peaceful, quiet environment away from windows and doors
  • Allow time for breaks during or between tasks to reduce fatigue from extended attending
  • Check for regulation
  • Use a visual schedule and check things off as you go
  • Schedule most important work for times of greatest concentration
  • Break bigger tasks into smaller ones

To find out more about attention, check out these great sites!

https://thecfydiaries.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/five-levels-of-attention/

http://www.musictherapymaven.com/what-is-attention-for-therapists/

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Darby

Sources: Neurologic Music Therapy Presentation (Tara Harwell, M.A., MT-BC, NMT; Elise Pardue, MT-BC, NMT), https://thecfydiaries.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/five-levels-of-attention/, http://www.musictherapymaven.com/what-is-attention-for-therapists/

 

Step one to helping our clients achieve their goals is writing a great goal for them to be successful! This can be a tedious job, as goals and objectives are intended to be precise, detailed targets. There many components to a solid goal, and each are equally important and serve a unique role. There are goal-writing checklists that can be adapted to any client and population to help us create goals that are rational and intentional.

The SMART goal checklist guides the writer through the major pieces of creating a goal. According to SMART, goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time limited. The infographic below provides a bit more information about each part.

SMART goals

Let’s look at the following goal:

By December 2018, Client A will improve cognition skills by improving sustained attention through playing an instrument for 2 consecutive minutes without stopping in 3 out of 4 trials with minimal prompting (no more than 1 verbal, gestural, or physical prompt).

First is the time deadline, which is when the goal is to be achieved by. This could vary by setting. Hospitals might have shorter time frames, schools will probably line up with IEPs. In this case, the client and therapist are aiming to achieve this goal in December of 2018.

After assessing the client, we identify the specific goal area (e.g. cognitive, motor, speech, etc.), and add details of the desired skill/behavior. Do we want it to increase, decrease, maintain functioning? This describes the what of the goal. In this case, it’s cognition skills through sustained attention.

Then, we can look at the how. How are we going to help the client achieve this goal? What means of exercise or intervention will we use? And how often will they participate? Out of how many trials will they be successful? This is where we think about measurability and achievability. Here, the how is ‘playing an instrument for 2 consecutive minutes.’

Along with these components, we must also include our type and level of prompting. The prompting in this goal would be ‘minimal prompting’, and the three types of prompts to choose from are verbal, gestural, and physical. Don’t forget about the option of independency! Our purpose is to help the client achieve the highest level of independence possible, so aiming for independence is the ultimate achievement.

“Big goals are important. You should always have a clear vision of where you would ultimately like [the client] to be. But be sure to set a number of smaller goals along the way. Accomplishment drives ambition.”

– Beau Taplin

– Patty

Transformational Design Model- the music therapist’s bridge from research to clinical application

As an evidence-based profession, we learn early on about the importance of research and its applications to our clinical work. Unfortunately, the translation of information gathered from these studies can blur in our representation and cause frustration to both client and therapist. In other words, reading and applying research can be hard.

The transformational design model (TDM), developed by Dr. Michael Thaut, is a model that provides a means of transforming the scientific model into functional clinical applications. It encourages therapists and students to create meaningful interventions, and avoid adapting generic music activities to address therapeutic goals by implementing a step by step guide that focuses on transformation validity, aesthetic and artistic functions. Step number four is the key in this process, as it guides the music therapist to translate the musical application from the non-musical interventions implemented by other therapies and services.

Design Process

For example, a client might have a speech and language goal to be able to answer yes and no questions. Step one will assess their strengths and needs, and step two creates the specific, measurable goal.

Step three identifies the means other therapists, such as a speech therapist, would use to address the goal. In this case, it could be by utilizing picture cards and yes/no questions, e.g. ‘Is this a cat?’ when the picture could be a cat, or maybe it’s a dog- yes or no.

Step four is where the magic happens in music therapy. The music therapist could create a song that asks same types of questions, but provides cueing and reinforcement that can be learned and associated with the correct answers. For example, when asking ‘Is this a dog- yes or no?’ the music therapist could utilize specific pitches for each answer. If the client has difficulty initiating the answer, the specific tonal cue can assist in selecting the correct answer.

Finally, in step five the music is slowly backed out so the client can generalize the experience to daily living.

As a new intern, I’m anxious to have the opportunity to use this model to create interventions for all my new clients. I think it’s a beautifully formulated way to approach clients from more of the therapy side, and then really using the music as a tool designed specifically to address the client’s needs.

Patty

Even though in some ways the 6 months felt like it flew by, I have learned so much it can be hard to put it into words, or even recognize some of the changes because my learnings have become so much a part of my daily routine as a music therapist. Below I am sharing just a few of my learnings:

I’ve learned through this internship that I have a unique ability to personally connect with others and this is also one of the parts of being a music therapist that I enjoy. I have always been interested in a career where I get to help others find success and that was one of the main reasons why I was so interested in working with students with special needs. I have also found through this internship that I am not only interested in working with people with disabilities but also older adults with memory impairment. Part of helping to guide a person’s successes is getting to know them or their family members and what their goals are. Being able to find what they respond to best is important and is a skill that I have seen grow during my internship. I feel more confident creating individualized interventions for clients, and I now have the techniques to adapt in the moment when necessary.

Secondly I have been excited about how much my repertoire has grown throughout this internship. Because I have had the opportunity to work with clients of different diagnoses and varying ages I have at least started to dip my toe in many genres of music, which I think will help me as I continue on my journey. During college classes we often had to memorize songs for tests or for practicums and I was able to do it, but I found in my internship that this skill became easier because I was using the songs I wanted to memorize on a daily basis and I felt much more successful. This skill is important because it allows the therapist to fully connect with the client and not be distracted by looking at the music or trying to remember what chord comes next. Especially in a group setting it is helpful to have music memorized because then the therapist can have more opportunities to connect with each client on an individual basis, which allows for the therapist to move around the room more. I realized about 4 months into my internship that this skill was improving and it was very encouraging me to see my progress from the beginning of my internship.

It is sometimes hard to articulate all the progress I have made, but I am so thankful for an internship where I was able to learn so many different aspects of being a music therapist.

 

Emily

 

 

Temple Grandin is an American professor of animal science at Colorado State University, consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, and a spokesperson for the Autism community. In 2017 she was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She has taught so many about how the autism brain works and her article Thinking In Pictures or her Ted Talk The World Needs all Kinds of Minds are two great resources for anyone who works with individuals with autism.

Her article and Ted Talk shares many of the same ideas so I will be pulling what I have learned from both to quickly summarize her thoughts that I have found very helpful in my work. The first point that she makes is that she has a very visual memory and she sees every object as a specific picture in her mind. Her first example is, when someone says church steeple most people see a general picture in their mind, but for her she see’s a specific steeple and then various other specific pictures after that like Google images. Later in her article she goes on to say that sometimes those pictures are connected to memories or other events and when she thinks of one thing then that relates to another, and another and she begins to associate and can get lost in her own mind. This learning was very significant for me because many of the clients I have worked with I have noticed how one object or word can cause them to go down a track of associations that don’t always make sense to me, and often they have a hard time stopping their train of thought. In the article she also compared the way she thinks to virtual reality where she is in another world and has the ability to adapt and change any picture that she see’s in her mind. This is why she has been so successful in the livestock industry because she is able to put herself in the cattle’s shoes and adapt their areas with her brain to create a more are comfortable resulting in more humane treatment of cattle.

She continues on to say that there are many types of thinkers and she is concerned that the education system is beginning to shy away from certain techniques and classes which creates a difficult environment for those with autism because those might be the areas they succeed in. From her findings, she believes there are visual thinkers, music and math thinkers (who think in patterns), and verbal and logic thinkers. Everyone thinks differently and all different types of thinkers are needed to make the world go round. For more specific ideas from Temple Grandin check out the links below, and maybe even check out the movie that was created about her called Temple Grandin.

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Thinking In Pictures- Article

http://www.grandin.com/inc/visual.thinking.html

Ted Talk Link:

 

If you want to learn more about Temple Grandin and all the amazing work she does check out her website: http://www.templegrandin

Emily