Music Therapy for Music Therapists
As music therapists, we spend our days thinking about how to use and manipulate the elements of music to achieve our client’s unique goals. Most of us were inspired to join this field because of a passion for music in our own lives, and we often discuss ways to maintain our own relationships to music outside of work. This could be singing, playing our primary instruments, writing music, or performing for our own enjoyment. But recently I’ve been exploring ways that I can apply music therapy to my own life. It's a good reminder that music therapy WORKS! Even if you are a music therapist! Here are a few music therapy interventions I have been known to incorporate in my own day-to-day life:
1. Sung Affirmations
When I was in college, one of my practicum supervisors led an affirmation intervention that has stuck with me for years. Our group stood in a circle, playing steady, repetitive beats on chimes, and sang these phrases:
“I am strong, I am capable, I’ve got this, I will find my way.”
There are certainly plenty of ways this could be used with clients, and I have explored many of them, but most often, this is something I use for myself. I start by giving myself a grounding beat somewhere on my body, either by patting my legs, shoulders, or chest, and sing some variation of these affirmations as many times as I need to. As someone who loves seeing the direct results of therapeutic work, I find it really satisfying to hear my voice even out and get stronger and clearer in real time. Depending on what I need to hear, the phrases I use may change from day to day, but I have found that this is a very simple way to calm my body and mind on days when I’m feeling anxious.
Goals addressed: decrease anxiety, self-confidence, grounding
2. Improvisation/Spontaneous Songwriting
Since I was a kid, I have often gone through my day singing little songs to myself. In fact, I used to sing my math homework outloud as I worked (I claimed it helped me focus, but maybe it was just to drive my sister crazy). In any case, singing has always been extremely effective for me as a means of processing information, remembering sequences, and working through difficult tasks. So while I no longer have math homework to sing my way through, I do often make up little tunes to keep me organized and on track. Generally, I would never consider myself a songwriter, or someone that composes music, these songs serve a different purpose for me. They exist in the moment to help me work through something, and when the moment fades, so do the songs. Part of my music therapy approach with clients is that music is a fluid and living breathing thing, the music that I create in my sessions will never be recreated in exactly the same way, and the same is true for music I create on my own!
Goals addressed: cognitive/emotional processing, creative expression, problem solving
3. Iso-Principle Playlists
The iso-principle is a go-to intervention for helping our clients move between moods or energy levels. But for years, even while applying this concept in sessions, I was still making playlists with only one emotion in mind. Listening to these playlists may be validating in the moment, but not very productive, because they only serve to keep my mood exactly where it is.
Recently, I have been incorporating the iso-principle into my playlist making. If I find a song that helps me relate to a difficult emotion or experience, rather than throwing it on my “sad music” playlist and calling it a day, I use it as a starting point to build to a more positive place. The act of creating the playlist can be a helpful processing technique, and what I’m left with is a tool I can return to again and again when I need it.
Goals addressed: improved mood, emotional processing
Living and breathing music therapy all day every day is a wonderful (and sometimes exhausting) thing. We put a lot of ourselves into our work, and sometimes all it takes is a little reminder that there are parts of this work you can take back, too! The same interventions that we use to achieve our client’s goals can be used in our own lives as well! Music therapy is for everyone, even music therapists!
