[humanser] Making client notes and back-to-back sessions

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

Nex semester will be my last for music therapy practicum before my
internship.  My professors have done a great job in finding a
placement for me that will give me some practice in logistical matters
such as transportation before internship, and also in placing me
according to my strengths and my expressed preferences for population
(children with disabilities).  I will be working under a music
therapist who owns her own private practice, and will need to travel
to the space she is renting for sessions each week.  I will be working
with two clients individually, first a 5 y/o girl with mild-moderate
Autism, and then a 7 y/o girl with down syndrome and some additional
cognitive and physical delays due to a brain tumor she had removed as
an infant.  Both girls are very different and have unique abilities,
preferences, and musical skills, and I'm really looking forward to our
sessions together.

I'm wondering how those of you who see clients back-to-back chart
progress.  The first child I'll be working with has 45 minute
sessions, which are paced rather quickly with a lot of different
musical interventions used to keep her focused (she's a really sharp
thinker, so she's always asking questions/checking things out/moving
about the room when she isn't engaged.  A professor and I observed her
in a session, and my future supervisor probably used about 20
experiences with her in that time.  Some of those songs were sung
transitions or directives, but a lot was going on in the session.  The
next client has sessions for an hour and 15 minutes, which I have not
yet had an opportunity to observe.  I've never had back-to-back
sessions before, and found that charting was easier if I did it
immediately after practicum sessions.  I will have some time after the
sessions to journal and evaluate on the bus ride home, but I'm
concerned that especially information about the first session might be
lost.  (It's also noteworthy that practicums even at this stage rarely
exceed 90 minutes in length, and mine will be 120 minutes a week).
Are there any tricks or strategies I could quickly employ in the brief
time between the departure of my first client and the arrival of my
second?  Thanks in advance for ideas.

-- 
Kaiti Shelton