Senses

 

I was in a training session this week and we were discussing the idea of using Soundscapes in practice. Initially I was wondering what was meant by this and how I could bring this into my practice. As we discussed it further, I thought how interesting it was and what a difference it could make.

We each shared a sound that makes us feel happy and I realised what an impact a sound can have. It can make you feel calm, sad, happy, frustrated, or angry depending on what it is. This could be helpful when trying to express how you feel. If someone struggles with verbal communication and you have spent time getting to know them, they may be able to tell you how they feel using a sound instead. There has been a lot of research done on the impact of music with people who have Dementia, and I was reflecting on this when I finished the session.

How many songs have I listened to that give me a specific emotional response? It’s also interesting to gauge how you are feeling when listening to certain things, I know myself there are certain songs that can cause me to sob but I will have other days that I can listen to it and not react that way. This shows how your underlying mood can make a difference to how something impacts you.

I know myself that there are certain songs I will hear that will transport me to a specific day or event and I think that is one of the powerful things about sounds. I can hear a song from my wedding day and in my head, I am right back there, it would be interesting to find out what that song was for someone I was working with and see what reaction I get if I played it. Also, sound can be used as a conversation starter, asking someone what sound they like is a lot less personal than some of the things that are asked in assessments, but it starts rapport building because it shows an interest in someone or could explain a specific behaviour.

It also got me thinking about senses in general, I know that I like to fiddle with something most of the time and hadn’t realised how much I do so until I was shining a light on it. When I am in meetings where I do not need to write notes, I twiddle with things from my desk such as a lid from a USB stick. If I am holding a pen but not currently writing notes, then I spin it around my fingers. When I watch television most of the time, I am doing something on my phone, or I will be knitting to keep my hands busy because it doesn’t feel right to just be watching something without my hands doing something. I have noticed the only time I don’t really do this when watching TV is when my hands are in a pocket, usually a large pocket of a hoodie and they can be clasped together instead.

I think smell is an interesting one because much like sound it can take you to another place and time. It can transport you to a specific event, experience that matters to you or person in your life. It might be that someone special to you loved the smell of lavender so that reminds you of them or they always used one specific perfume. These things are so powerful and shouldn’t be taken for granted. It also gets you thinking about people who may not have some of those senses anymore. How do they experience the world? What could we possibly do to help give them a similar experience of being transported to another time or place if they can’t hear a song or see a video or photograph?

I am going to add something a bit different to this blog that I don’t usually. I have a question for you.

Tell me which sense is most powerful for you and what transports you to another time or place?