Thursday was our last full day of work. My group and the MT-BC supervisor from Molloy College went back to the School of Hope. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. Both sites were extremely educational, but I really preferred working with the children.
In order to get practicum credit for my time here, I have to make sure certain aspects of clinical work at OU are accounted for here. In particular, I was to focus on improvisation skills. This was kind of hard to do, especially because we spent most of our time at the infirmary. Many of the residents were not in the condition to do in depth improvistional experiences, especially since we had so many residents to work with. Therefore, I waited until I returned to the school to work improv into the session. Our supervisor Evelyn is a very improvisatory music therapist, so working out an appropriate experience was pretty easy. We decided that I would lead an experience called "Come to the Drum."
Procedures:
1. Sit the children in a circle with two drums and chairs in the middle. Pass out drums to each student and ask them to play and sing along.
2. Sing the song "Come, come, come. Come to the drum. Amy come, come to the drum." When the client comes to the drum, keep singing, "beat, beat, beat. Beat on the drum." The music therapist might sing things like "watch her play, she can play the drum, listen to her play, etc."
3. Ask the other students to put their drums on the ground. As the student begins to play, the music therapist might match what they are doing, or they might engage in a call and response, taking turns repeating each other. Depending on how the improvisation is going, this might last for a few minutes or only a few seconds.
4. Using judgement, the therapist will ask the student to return to their chair, and the whole process will start over again.
For the most part, this went pretty well, but I was a little nervous at first. Most of the improvisation I have done in practicum involves the client improvising over the therapist's steady beat or chord progression. This kind of improv required more active participation from me, which was fun, but also difficult for me. At OU, we don't focus as much on improv as other places, but the more time I spent around it, the more I liked it. Check out this two part video to see more about improv-based music therapy: 1st video, 2nd video.
As per usual, the kids were adorable and loving. At one point, a girl took my camera and got some pretty funny photos of her classmates and us. Saying goodbye was a little sad, but it's hard to be upset when they're so happy you came in the first place. A few girls were very sweet, though, and hold us how much they will miss us. We'll miss them, too.
Thursday night, Eric showed us a documentary about the economic crisis in Jamaica, "Life and Debt." It was really interesting and a little depressing, but very educational. Unfortunately, many of us were so tired that we had a hard time watching the whole thing without nodding off a few times. I'd like to rewatch it sometime when I am not so tired! One thing that has struck me throughout this whole experience is the generosity and kindness the Jamaican people possess. Many literally have only a tarp over their heads with not enough money to go to the grocery store (groceries are very expensive here because nearly everything is imported), yet they are the friendliest people I have ever met. Walking down "main street" in Boston Bay, people wave to you, ask you how you are, shake your hands, make sure you are enjoying your stay, etc., etc. A perfect example of the negative correlation between money and happiness.
One of my favorite students playing the tambourine
My music therapy group on our last day at the School of Hope
The kids loved our cameras, and one girl managed to capture this gem after stealing mine. Note the impish hand in the right corner and the camera struggle in the left corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment