Advocacy - The Best Kind
Today I was sitting in a recovery room after having a CT scan done, and the very friendly gentleman sitting waiting for his wife struck up a conversation with me. It quickly evolved into a discussion about every part of my life and lots of information about him, his wife, and their lives. I had already gleaned some of the information about why they were at the hospital due to a conversation he had had with another person waiting for tests in the waiting room.
The conversation turned towards what I do for a living (he is a pharmacist and has worked at his business for 40 years - first job...absolutely loves it...there you go). I, of course, mentioned that I was a music therapist. We spoke a bit more and his wife entered the room to start her own recovery.
A bit later in the conversation, he mentioned to his wife that I was a music therapist and she asked the inevitable question, "So, what do you do with that exactly."
I answered her the way I always do, explaining that music therapists use music to address goals of whichever human being is there. (By the way, my words were more friendly and personable in the moment. I'm coming down off a contrast-dye something or other right now!) I moved on to discuss the use of music for wellness, relaxation, learning new skills, all of the things that I have learned to use to broach the subject of what it is that we do as part of our profession. The conversation ended after that since my recovery time was up, but I felt that it was a good little bit of advocacy for music therapy.
I love those moments when you can start a conversation about what we do. Who knows if they will ever seek out a music therapist, but you know that they will remember that they met a music therapist once. I think that type of discussion leads to a greater understanding and awareness of our profession.
The conversation turned towards what I do for a living (he is a pharmacist and has worked at his business for 40 years - first job...absolutely loves it...there you go). I, of course, mentioned that I was a music therapist. We spoke a bit more and his wife entered the room to start her own recovery.
A bit later in the conversation, he mentioned to his wife that I was a music therapist and she asked the inevitable question, "So, what do you do with that exactly."
I answered her the way I always do, explaining that music therapists use music to address goals of whichever human being is there. (By the way, my words were more friendly and personable in the moment. I'm coming down off a contrast-dye something or other right now!) I moved on to discuss the use of music for wellness, relaxation, learning new skills, all of the things that I have learned to use to broach the subject of what it is that we do as part of our profession. The conversation ended after that since my recovery time was up, but I felt that it was a good little bit of advocacy for music therapy.
I love those moments when you can start a conversation about what we do. Who knows if they will ever seek out a music therapist, but you know that they will remember that they met a music therapist once. I think that type of discussion leads to a greater understanding and awareness of our profession.
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