I found this article, A Journey Into the Heart: Music Therapy After the "Black Saturday" Bush Fires incredibly interesting. Like the author, I have a great desire to help others in need especially after tragedies that affect entire communities. I have not had an opportunity to do so in my own community, however I did have the wonderful experience of providing music therapy services in Jamaica last summer in the midst of the conflict arising from the fugitive arms dealer Christopher Dudas. I have great respect for all professionals that reach out to communities and provide their talents and expertise at times of great stress. I initially read the article because I was interested in exactly how music therapy is used in communities that have experienced natural disasters. To my pleasant surprise, along with educating me, the article helped me make connections that I hadn't realized before. I had an "a ha" moment when the author, in preparing for her work with these teenagers, contemplated the relevance of community music therapy theory and referred to Yalom's theory of group psychotherapy. After reading her statements, I realized there was an obvious connection that I had simply overlooked. She presented how these theories transcend specific populations and contexts and can be universally applied. In addition, even though the importance of "being with" the group and allowing yourself to be fully present with them is something that is emphasized in class, it is only with experience that I have been able to fully understand what that truly means and what it feels like. At the moment, I am working in with clients in hospice care. Prior to working in this setting, I have been more consumed with planning my sessions out to a T and making sure everything goes according to plan. Since working with my clients in end of life care, I am no longer as concerned with planning how things are going to go or what exactly should happen. Instead, I focus on the client in the here and now. I meet them where there are and am fully present with them during every second of our time together. After allowing myself to simply be with my clients, I truly felt the author's point that even though theoretical standpoint and context can vary significantly, as well as the ages and cultural backgrounds of the clients and the therapist, the true core of music therapy and the reason that it works is the experience of connectedness and creativity.