Therapy or Entertainment?

Hey everybody,

I should probably say that this blog post is not intended to be demeaning to musicians who entertain. There is a lot of validity to being an entertainer. I use music to entertain often, and enjoy it. This post, however, is an attempt to discern the difference between therapy and entertainment for my work.

I'm writing this post as a way to process a recent "dilemma" I've encountered. The problem is: Where is the point where therapy becomes entertainment? I'm asking myself this question because I am trying to make a conscious effort at work to see people who are benefiting more, more often. What does "benefiting more" mean, though?

There are some instances where is might seem fairly straight forward. If someone is cognizant and really is only interested in hearing someone play guitar, they might be using music only as entertainment. As a therapist, then, I have to do some adjusting to my sessions to encourage therapy to take place. Some people, however, have no interest in the therapeutic aspects and just want music to be played for them. Other times, it is more difficult to distinguish. Let's say there is a client who is bed bound, does not take part in activities, was once very social, but now cannot interact well with the people they know. If I go in, talk with them for a while, and play music for them or listen to music with them, who's to say that is not therapeutic for them? Perhaps it could be giving someone control over their environment or a way to get back to the way they used to be.

Most of these little mental conflicts happen for me when I am not working on emotional, physical, or spiritual goals. Social goals are the gray area. Increasing social interaction is great, but at what point is the social interaction something that a volunteer could provide? At some point, I could go see someone who I am sure is benefiting from my therapeutic services.

I guess, it very much depends on the person's abilities and my intuition as a clinician. That's difficult for me. I'm not very good at trusting myself, sometimes. Whenever people are involved, there will be gray areas, because people are not just "this-or-that" creatures. Another reason it is difficult, is because it forces me to take a step back and really ask myself, "What did I help my client accomplish in that session?" If the answer is nothing, then I really need to evaluate my session and make necessary changes to attempt to facilitate a music therapy session, not a music entertainment session. As clinicians, we need to be doing this anyway, but that doesn't mean it's easy to do. We should constantly be striving to improve ourselves so that our clients can receive the best possible services from us. This means, though, that you will have to be pushed out of your comfort zone often and will be forced to learn new skills and approaches.

I guess I should conclude, because I feel I'm beginning to ramble. This is something I'll be wrestling with for a while, I feel. If you have any suggestions or can relate to this concept of "therapy vs. entertainment", please comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!