Stagnation
There has been a subtle theme going through my life this week that I hadn't really noticed until yesterday during a talk with my intern. It started with a thought about how to make music therapy treatment more meaningful for a large group of students with autism spectrum disorders. We have 19 people crammed into a tiny room and it is difficult to engage everyone at the same time. So, I started thinking about trying something new.
Later in the week, I heard an interview on a program called "Q." I caught it on my way back home after choir practice on Wednesday evening. Jason Segel was talking about the things that he is doing - acting, singing, performing, and writing both movie scripts and children's books. I've enjoyed his work over the years and listened avidly. He was asked what scared him the most, and this is what he said...
This idea stuck with me.
On Thursday, I tried out the new idea with 19 people and 3-4 observers (surprise!!! Let's cram MORE people into the small room!), and it worked really well! All students were engaged in the TMEs that I presented, and we had some great interaction going. Clients were interacting with their peers in appropriate ways, and staff members were fully involved in what I wanted them to do. We had no significant behavior issues, and everything worked like clockwork. I was excited and strangely relieved that it had happened that way - it could have been significantly horrible.
So, yesterday, I was talking to my intern at the end of our day. It wasn't a busy day - we're still trying to figure out what to do on Fridays - so we had lots of time to talk during the day. We found out that the observers who had been at my large session on Thursday had been very impressed with their experiences at the school. They found that our school was engaging, positive, and unique. All things that we feel on a regular basis, but things that folks in upper offices at the state level do not seem to recognize. This indication that they found our work to be important, difficult, and appropriate was a bit of a victory. Finding out this information led me into the next topic with my intern.
I was thinking out loud that I hoped that I would get copies of any comments from the observers who came to music therapy. The conversation led into a comment from my intern about how she wished she could see more how this new way of doing things would work (she's almost finished - less than two weeks to go!). That started my thinking again.
Every intern that I have hosted over the years has seen a small bit of me and how I function as a music therapist. I was thinking that my first intern saw a VERY different music therapist than this intern (#23). That's good and bad, I think. There are things that I was able to learn and teach #1 that #3 or #14 or #21 were not exposed to during their times with me. There is no way to teach different people the exact same things all the time, especially in a competency-based, individualized, and ever-changing profession like music therapy.
I think the reason I was so struck by Jason Segel's quote is that it is the center of my fears as well. I am not satisfied to "just do my job." When I worked for the State of California as a Rehabilitation Therapist (Music), I worked with many therapists who were not really all that interested in doing music therapy, but who just wanted to spend time reading things and getting paid. That scenario never interested me. I have always wanted to find a job that challenges me, keeps me interested, and allows me to grow. That's one of the reasons that I left that position - the co-workers were not interested in changing and growing. So, I found the position that I have now. There are good things and bad things about the job (as there are at every job), but one of the best things is that I have the freedom to try new things whenever I want to do so.
Just recently, though, I have felt that I am becoming stagnant. Occasionally I write about needing new challenges to spark my creativity and interest in what is happening. These feelings are happening more and more these days, so I am feeling that it is time to shake up my life. So, I'm going to start looking for ways to shake up my life. It's time.
Beware the seduction of stagnation. It can dupe you into thinking that what you are doing is the ONLY way you can interact with others. It can mask what your clients need in a haze of "this is the way we ALWAYS do things." It can feel comfortable but is just a ruse.
I think this is the most important part of our certification process - the requirement that we participate in continuing music therapy education all the time. This is an attempt to keep up from getting into our overly familiar routines. We have to keep learning and growing in order to continue as board certified music therapists. What we do with our continuing education is up to us, though. Going through the motions is not enough. You also have to internalize the ideas, theories, and concepts that you learn and change your practice to accommodate new and pertinent information. Continuing Education is a way to avoid the stagnation of habit. (For the record, the music therapists that I mentioned above were NOT board certified - and that's a WHOLE other rant just waiting to burst out. I'll spare you that rant today...)
When I find myself in the throes of stagnation, I start to despair, but I've learned that I can break out of the same old thing with some determination. It's time for changing things and for finding something new. I am challenging myself to making some audacious changes in "how I do things" in my personal and professional lives. It's time.
"I'm scared of being stagnant."
Thank you, Jason Segel.
Later in the week, I heard an interview on a program called "Q." I caught it on my way back home after choir practice on Wednesday evening. Jason Segel was talking about the things that he is doing - acting, singing, performing, and writing both movie scripts and children's books. I've enjoyed his work over the years and listened avidly. He was asked what scared him the most, and this is what he said...This idea stuck with me.
On Thursday, I tried out the new idea with 19 people and 3-4 observers (surprise!!! Let's cram MORE people into the small room!), and it worked really well! All students were engaged in the TMEs that I presented, and we had some great interaction going. Clients were interacting with their peers in appropriate ways, and staff members were fully involved in what I wanted them to do. We had no significant behavior issues, and everything worked like clockwork. I was excited and strangely relieved that it had happened that way - it could have been significantly horrible.
So, yesterday, I was talking to my intern at the end of our day. It wasn't a busy day - we're still trying to figure out what to do on Fridays - so we had lots of time to talk during the day. We found out that the observers who had been at my large session on Thursday had been very impressed with their experiences at the school. They found that our school was engaging, positive, and unique. All things that we feel on a regular basis, but things that folks in upper offices at the state level do not seem to recognize. This indication that they found our work to be important, difficult, and appropriate was a bit of a victory. Finding out this information led me into the next topic with my intern.
I was thinking out loud that I hoped that I would get copies of any comments from the observers who came to music therapy. The conversation led into a comment from my intern about how she wished she could see more how this new way of doing things would work (she's almost finished - less than two weeks to go!). That started my thinking again.
Every intern that I have hosted over the years has seen a small bit of me and how I function as a music therapist. I was thinking that my first intern saw a VERY different music therapist than this intern (#23). That's good and bad, I think. There are things that I was able to learn and teach #1 that #3 or #14 or #21 were not exposed to during their times with me. There is no way to teach different people the exact same things all the time, especially in a competency-based, individualized, and ever-changing profession like music therapy.
I think the reason I was so struck by Jason Segel's quote is that it is the center of my fears as well. I am not satisfied to "just do my job." When I worked for the State of California as a Rehabilitation Therapist (Music), I worked with many therapists who were not really all that interested in doing music therapy, but who just wanted to spend time reading things and getting paid. That scenario never interested me. I have always wanted to find a job that challenges me, keeps me interested, and allows me to grow. That's one of the reasons that I left that position - the co-workers were not interested in changing and growing. So, I found the position that I have now. There are good things and bad things about the job (as there are at every job), but one of the best things is that I have the freedom to try new things whenever I want to do so.
Just recently, though, I have felt that I am becoming stagnant. Occasionally I write about needing new challenges to spark my creativity and interest in what is happening. These feelings are happening more and more these days, so I am feeling that it is time to shake up my life. So, I'm going to start looking for ways to shake up my life. It's time.
Beware the seduction of stagnation. It can dupe you into thinking that what you are doing is the ONLY way you can interact with others. It can mask what your clients need in a haze of "this is the way we ALWAYS do things." It can feel comfortable but is just a ruse.
I think this is the most important part of our certification process - the requirement that we participate in continuing music therapy education all the time. This is an attempt to keep up from getting into our overly familiar routines. We have to keep learning and growing in order to continue as board certified music therapists. What we do with our continuing education is up to us, though. Going through the motions is not enough. You also have to internalize the ideas, theories, and concepts that you learn and change your practice to accommodate new and pertinent information. Continuing Education is a way to avoid the stagnation of habit. (For the record, the music therapists that I mentioned above were NOT board certified - and that's a WHOLE other rant just waiting to burst out. I'll spare you that rant today...)
When I find myself in the throes of stagnation, I start to despair, but I've learned that I can break out of the same old thing with some determination. It's time for changing things and for finding something new. I am challenging myself to making some audacious changes in "how I do things" in my personal and professional lives. It's time.
"I'm scared of being stagnant."
Thank you, Jason Segel.
Comments
Post a Comment