Longevity
I am part of a young profession. I do not mean that music therapy is not an established profession with a research base, but I mean that the majority of people that are in the music therapy clinics and jobs of today are young. As a Ph.D. candidate who does not intend to move into a university teaching position, I have often faced questions about my resistance to moving out of the clinic.
I find that new professionals often believe what they learned in their university programs, chapter and verse. I know that I did. I graduated, went out into the real world, and expected everything to work exactly like my professors and internship supervisors told me. It did not work that way. I lacked the ability to shift my expectations at the beginning of my career. It was a skill that I learned after some time. I had to adapt and develop my own way of approaching music therapy in order to survive as a therapist.
Breaking away from what I was told to expect was the best thing that I could have done, I believe. I believe that this is why I am still content to be a music therapist in the clinic, working hard to stay there. I love using music as a tool for assisting clients in moving towards their nonmusical goals. The act of using music as a tool works well because I have opened myself up to all the possibilities rather than the only things that I was taught.
Now, the issue that therapists are talking about right now is why most of our professionals are young. There really isn't a clear answer. Think about it. Why did you stay in a profession where others did not? I stayed because I love music therapy. I have always felt that I would only be a music therapist as long as it was fun.
I guess others do not find the joy in the job that I find. That is fine.
I am part of a young profession. I do not mean that music therapy is not an established profession with a research base, but I mean that the majority of people that are in the music therapy clinics and jobs of today are young. As a Ph.D. candidate who does not intend to move into a university teaching position, I have often faced questions about my resistance to moving out of the clinic.
I find that new professionals often believe what they learned in their university programs, chapter and verse. I know that I did. I graduated, went out into the real world, and expected everything to work exactly like my professors and internship supervisors told me. It did not work that way. I lacked the ability to shift my expectations at the beginning of my career. It was a skill that I learned after some time. I had to adapt and develop my own way of approaching music therapy in order to survive as a therapist.
Breaking away from what I was told to expect was the best thing that I could have done, I believe. I believe that this is why I am still content to be a music therapist in the clinic, working hard to stay there. I love using music as a tool for assisting clients in moving towards their nonmusical goals. The act of using music as a tool works well because I have opened myself up to all the possibilities rather than the only things that I was taught.
Now, the issue that therapists are talking about right now is why most of our professionals are young. There really isn't a clear answer. Think about it. Why did you stay in a profession where others did not? I stayed because I love music therapy. I have always felt that I would only be a music therapist as long as it was fun.
I guess others do not find the joy in the job that I find. That is fine.
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