Music Therapy Musings

Looking back on past blog posts I see that it has been over a month since I last posted. The reason for this delay is that I have been away on vacation. My family and I have spent the last 19 days on the road seeing the country. We drove out West and back and it was just what my soul needed.

I am simply amazed at the amount of beauty this world has to offer if you only take the time to look. Many of the places on our trip I had visited before many years ago and some of what we saw was completely new. Yet new or familiar I saw it all with new eyes and a deep appreciation for what each place had to offer. I am particularly drawn to the mountains and truly enjoyed seeing Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters mountain range in OR as well as the Grand Tetons in WY. I think I could have spent months in the mountains and never tired of them.

As I return from this glorious trip and begin to get back into the swing of my practice I realize that I, too, will look at my work and my clients with those same new eyes. My clients bring something wonderful and new to our work each time we are together. Rather than pre-suppose who they are or how they will behave in our sessions, I will now look upon them with anticipating eyes: How will they be today? What will they share with me? How will our work evolve?

This way of thinking about my work and my clients is exciting for each day really will bring something new if I only take the time to really be with them and look.

What about you? What will your day bring? What will those in your life share? What gems can you discover each and every day if you simply take the time to look?

This week, once again, I was privileged to witness the power of music in action.

I was working with an elderly lady who spends a lot of time in her room, sleeping while the tv is on. We have been working together for a few weeks and she has been extremely lethargic and sleepy. This week I brought a variety of music from the 40’s and 50’s. I put CDs on and as we listened my client began to transform.

Slowly at first her eyes would open, she would look at me and smile. Then she began to sing, quite loudly I might add, and smile away. As the music continued and we talked about each tune, her memories of it, etc. she began to “dance” in her chair. She swayed and moved and smiled and sang. She shared how much she loved to dance, the fox trot is her favorite, and how she wishes she could still get out on the floor.

We spent our time together on the moderated dance floor of her recliner. We laughed, we reminisced, and we danced. By the end of the session I asked her how she was feeling, was she still tired? “Oh no” was her reply. In fact she was so full of energy that she didn’t want me to go and I left her listening to the music as I went to work with other residents.

It was a wonderful transformation to witness and to be a small part of. We were together in the mid-morning, shortly before lunch. I can only imagine how her appetite must have been for lunch that day!

It is with great excitement that I announce the completion and publication of my new E-book for creative arts therapists: Prelude to Coda: Building a Successful Creative Arts Therapy Practice.

Prelude to Coda is a workbook and guide that gives you step-by-step advice to become a “therapist entrepreneur.” Using examples from my personal experience as I developed my own successful practice, you simply follow the steps to create your own structured plan. It gives you all the details you’ll need for starting and growing a successful private practice - no matter your area of therapy expertise.

Here’s a sneak peak of what you’ll find inside your copy of Prelude to Coda

* How to know if starting your own business is right for you (page 8);
* Ways to attract new clients (page 63);
* Finding a profitable niche for your services (page 46);
* The marketing materials you need most (page 52);
* How much to charge for your services (page 77);
* Financial information you should know (page 82);
* How to measure your success (page 42)…
* And much, much more!

For more information please visit BuildAPrivatePractice.com

This past week I learned just how much music can heal and soothe. I have just started working with a new resident. She is in her early 60’s, suffering from Alzheimer’s and very anxious. She is often calling out to her husband and although he visits everyday on a regular basis, she often does not remember.

A week after our first meeting I went back to see her again and found out from the staff that her husband had passed away suddenly. It was tragic and although her family had told this resident about her husband’s passing, she does not remember. She continues to ask where he is and when he will be coming to visit.

So, this week when I went to visit I used music, specifically me singing and playing the guitar, to “hold” my resident. The music and my voice was used to comfort her and lesson her anxiety; it provided a place for her to express her grief and anxiety safely. Something changed for me as I worked with her. Although there wasn’t much talking, there was eye contact and simple presence. It was very powerful.

We all find ourselves in times of sadness and grief. Next time you face such emotions try using music, it can be recorded as well, to “be with you”. Let the music be a container for your feelings, let it hold you, let it comfort you. Allow yourself to simple be present with the music. See what happens.

I just got done watching today’s episode of Oprah. She was at Ceasar’s Palace with Cher and Tina Turner. It was truly an inspirational show. Not only do both Cher and Tina look incredible for their age, they ARE incredible. Tina, a wise 68 years in age, just announced she is going back on the road to tour, and Cher is doing a 3 year gig at Ceasar’s!

When asked how she feels about getting older Tina said she embraces it. Over the years she has learned so much.

As I watched these two icons perform, I have been watching Cher since I was in 4th or 5th grade, I was truly inspired by their talent, their energy, and their spirit. It reminded me that your spirit can shine at ANY age!

I found myself thinking about the clients I work with. I am often helping them to re-connect with their own creative spirit and supporting them in their desire to give that spirit voice in this world. Many of them often think they have nothing left to give, that they are too old. They are not. I wish I had this episode of Oprah to show them, but I guess our work together and the power of music and music therapy will have to do.

What about you? When was the last time you let your creative spirit shine?

Another great week of work! I can’t believe how much I gain from the work that I do as a music therapist working with older adults. Each week brings something new and I always feel blessed at the end of the day for what I provided my clients and what they bring to my life.

About a year ago I started a bell choir at one of the facilites I work for. This group is wonderfully talented and they perform for the residents and staff about 3-4 times per year. It has been a great addition to their facility and both the residents and staff are thrilled to have the bell choir. About 6 months ago, the choir also started to play at monthly memorial services. We were asked to provide a couple of hymns and end each service by playing “Amazing Grace”. They do a great job.

Yesterday we had one of the memorial services at which the bell choir performed. I sat in the dining room as residents, staff, and families began to gather. One of the residents with whom I work, she is not in the choir, entered the room and saw me sitting there. As she approached me she reach out her hands to stroke my cheek and say hello. This lady is very quiet and somewhat reserved. I responded by saying hello and helping her to find a chair. I then went back to waiting patiently for the memorial service to begin.

As I waited and sat something came over me and my eyes began to well with tears. Just a simple touch from my resident brought tears to my eyes and I felt a connection to her that reached far beyond the music therapy session. I felt blessed and warmed by the connection to another human being.

Now, if I felt this so deeply simply by a touch and a smile, can you imagine what the residents must feel when they connect with others? Can you imagine how important such connections to others is in their lives? It really made me think.

Blessings in my life. See what I mean?

It has been a very busy couple of months. During the last 60 days or so I have been working hard to expand my passion for music therapy through a variety of means. First, I have been growing my company through collaborations with other music therapists to provide music therapy services to as many older adults as possible. Meetings with long term care and Alzheimer’s facility administrators has been very exciting. As I speak about my own passion for music therapy with older adults I seem to ignite excitment in the administrators I speak with. I can feel the excitement all around. It is electrifying.

I have also been working hard to finish up my book. I met with my editor last week to embark on plans to put this book out into the world and begin helping music therapists and other creative arts therapists build successful practices. As I met with my editor I found myself, once again, sharing my passion for what I do. Not only did I express my passion for music therapy, but I also voiced my desire to help my professional colleagues build private practices. I saw myelf as a catalyst for expanding creative arts therapies throughout the country. This is indeed an exciting prospect. A prospect I wasn’t consciously aware of when I started this journey.

It truly is an exciting time in my career and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I am working on a book about how to start and run a successful private practice. Initially I wrote it from the perspective of a music therapist building a music therapy practice. However, I would like to expand my readership and write for a variety of creative arts therapists and expressive arts therapists.

If you are a music therapist, art therapist, drama therapist, dance therapist, or any type of creative arts therapist, I would like your input on this book. Please post on my blog and let me ask you some questions.

Kathy Lindberg, MT-BC

I just read a great post from Beginner-Guitar-Lessons.com entitled, How Anyone - Yes Even You - Can Become a World Class Guitarist The focal point of this post was that becoming an expert/virtuoso/world-class/etc. at anything isn’t necessarily about having natural ability. Now while I am a musician and certainly was born with some natural musical ability, there have been other musical abilities that I honed while in school. Relative pitch for example. I had to learn how to listen and develop my sense of pitch in order to use it in both my performances and in my music therapy practice.

What I enjoyed about this post was the message that becoming great at playing a musical instrument isn’t about practicing more than the next person, it’s about “the right kind of practice.” To quote this blog post,

So can just anyone become a master guitarist by simply practicing more than the next person?

Not necessarily - you have to do the right kind of practice. Don’t just repeat the same stuff over and over and wait for your cat to bark. In business a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result - this applies to everything.

More often than not what keeps people from achieving true greatness when it comes to mastering a musical instrument is the tendency to skim over the harder and mundane parts.

To progress to greatness you need to spend time on the not-fun-but-essential-to-get-better tasks. As with anything highly desirable and hard to achieve in life there are difficult, un-enjoyable aspects that need to be tackled. Look at it this way - if there is something you tend to skip over in your practice routine or in your learning package, chances are that’s what you need to be focusing on to get to the next level.

I found this post to be very supportive as a musician. I am, myself, taking guitar lessons to improve my skills and there are definitely days when I get discouraged and think I just can’t get to the level of playing that I want. But after reading this article I am re-energized to keep practicing and moving towards my goal.

I also teach kids to play the clarinet and think this is a great article to share with them, which I will be doing. Thanks to Dot-Dash Innovations and the author of this blog post. I hope it will inspire my own music students.

I had an affirming experience this week. My approach to music therapy with the elderly and those living with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other mental challenges is this:

Older adults, both healthy and those living with various challenges are still creative, vital human spirits that have something to contribute to this world.

One of the ladies I work with sufferers from breast cancer as well as dementia. In our work together she has not exhibited much confusion in our sessions, until this week. I found her very agitated and confused. She thought her now grown daughter was still a teenager and she wanted to go home. As I sat and listened to her, there was a part of her that knew she was confused. “I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy” she kept repeating. I assured her that I didn’t think she was crazy and affirmed that I felt her anxiety at the thought of losing her mind.

I think often we think of those with dementia as being comfortably uaware of so much in their lives. Yet here was a woman who, for the time we were together, recognized her own confusion and was terrified by it. I knew that I had something to offer this frightened, agitated woman that would help to calm her and give familiarity to her confusion, right at the moment…MUSIC.

Music provdies a safe, familiar environment where people can explore themselves, face the unknown, and be supported, comforted. After our time together, I left this woman a little more relaxed, a little more in control, and feeling a bit more safe. Isn’t that what we all want?