Effective Behavior Management

Building Rapport One Step at a Time

Last month, I did a short presentation at my former graduate school for the student music therapy association there.  One of the programs I work in is a public school day treatment setting with adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders, and the organizer of the event felt that presenting on behavior management strategies would be most informative for the group.  I thought I would share parts of my presentation here, as a new series on the blog.

If you're anything like me when I was going through my music therapy practica, this is the population that produces the most anxiety for you.  Hopefully these practical, concrete tips will ease some of that anxiety, because I feel this is a very fulfilling pouplation to work with, and I hope you get the opportunity to do so someday.  It's also possible that you are very comfortable with or excited about working with this population. If that is the case, I hope this series reaffirms your current practice or gives you a fresh perspective on strategies for best providing a safe and secure environment for your clients and yourself.

Rapport & Relationship

This is the most important component of effective behavior management, I believe, and will be the first one that we examine in our series. Establishing rapport with your clients is a necessary first step in any therapeutic relationship, as I am sure we are all well aware.  (As a side note, I define rapport as a short-term tool for establishing a long-term relationship of trust between client and therapist.)  Rapport with a client provides you with a unique insight into the "why's" of their behavior, allowing you to be proactive in how you interact with them.  Ultimately, an established relationship with a client helps the client to "buy-in" to the therapeutic process.

So, how do we gain rapport?  As music therapists, we are aware of the power of music involvement to create a shared experience, encourage clients to feel safe, and build on their strengths.  This is where most of us start; making live music together is sort of our bread and butter as MTs, effective for a number of goals.  Over the next month, I will offer some simple, concrete strategies besides music involvement to build rapport.  I'll start small this week since we're already running long, and expand as we get going over the next few weeks.

Let clients help you set-up and pack-up.  My third practicum as a student was at an inpatient mental heath facility for adolescents.  I learned some lessons there that have proven themselves more valuable as I work within my current program.  I felt that structure was the most important consideration at the time...  And it is definitely the next highest priority on my list now, but one thing I did was not accept help from clients while I set up the session and prepped.  I had a specific way to set up the room and my materials, and I was afraid that if they helped me, they would get distracted by the instruments, not follow my directions, and cause me more problems.  

What I failed to recognize was that this was a prime time to build rapport—if they offer, they're showing they want to contribute, and you should never turn that down.  They can arrange chairs, place materials, erase boards, any and every little job you can think to give them--if they offer, LET THEM DO IT.  During this time, you can chat casually, and without the pressure of the group or the process, you will probably gain a lot of insight into them as a person.

What about you?  Have you used this strategy yourself?  Do you feel it is valuable? Why or why not? 

In this series, we discuss various strategies for creating a relationship through therapeutic rapport. To see the entire series, click here.