Tracey Jones: music therapist at Cheeverstown House, Dublin - a residential and day centre for children and adults with learning disabilities
I usually start work at about 8.30 a.m. and begin the day by checking emails and other correspondence. I get a lot of inquires because I am one of only two music therapists with full-time posts in Ireland and also because I am the secretary of the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists (IACAT) which is a professional association of drama therapists, dance and movement therapists, art therapists and music therapists.
I work with the children who attend the school and early services at Cheeverstown as well as the adults who live here.
People think you have to be musical to do music therapy but that is not the case. We are all innately musical and anyone can benefit from music therapy but I have to decide with other members of the clinic team which referrals to prioritise.
I have my first session at 10 a.m. I have a purpose-built music therapy room. This is very important because each group or individual session needs a different set-up.
The 10 a.m. session is often with a group of children with autism and it is co-facilitated with a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist or a psychologist. So I have my room empty of everything except the guitar which we use to sing an introductory song.
Children with autism can be very easily distracted so we use the guitar and the other people in the room as the focus. Gradually, we may introduce other instruments one by one and give each child a chance to play the instrument. The session lasts for about 40 minutes and I'd spend some time afterwards discussing with the other team member what happened in the group and our plans for the following sessions.
Then I set up the room again for the next session which might be a one-to-one with a child. This session might be about encouraging the child to engage and come out of herself so I would use tactile instruments which are also visually stimulating. I'd also use a lot of vocal sounds, nonsense or imitation sounds which help a non-vocal child with language articulation and breath control.
The use of vocal sound is particularly important for children who don't have language as it allows them an emotional expression through sound.
In the afternoon, I generally work with adults. I get a lot of referrals for people with challenging behaviour or those who have suffered a recent bereavement.
If such an individual is non-verbal, music therapy can be one of the best ways to express emotions in a safe environment.
In a one-to-one session with an adult who has suffered loss, we might make up a song about the loss of a parent or use instruments symbolically to express feelings. If I'm working with someone with challenging behaviour or someone who is depressed or in a low mood, I may work with a colleague and we would have a debriefing afterwards to discuss what went on in the session.
If I am working with an adult on my own, it is very important for me to seek out a colleague who is also working with that person to order to debrief.
Before I end my day, I go through my notes from the sessions and listen to any video or audio material I may have recorded during the day.
Research is an important part of my job, both for my professional development and to develop new treatment methods. I finish work at about 4.30 p.m.