Talking With Some of My Favorite People

I had a webinar last night. We talked about Time Management and Organization - something that I have a handle on but still have to work on all the time. We discussed the challenges and joys of being music therapy interns (for them, a reality, for me, a distant memory) and how a change of job often means a change in managing time and workloads. 

Intern webinars are things that I love to facilitate. I enjoy talking to the future of music therapy. I enjoy being a link between them and the greater music therapy world. I enjoy being able to be the one that lets them know things like "it's normal to be exhausted during your internship." I also enjoy hearing what they think about the future of this profession.

During our conversations over the years, music therapy interns have listened to me talk about their rights and responsibilities, time management and organization, the therapeutic triad, and self-care as well as several other topics. Some groups actively engage in the conversations. Other groups just sit and listen as I drone on and on. (I prefer the former to the latter!) Some of the topics are supported by lots of resources. Others are completely based on my own opinions and don't have any support other than my experiences (I like those the best!!). The conversations that develop from the powerpoints and lectures that I develop are often things that inform my own ideas and practices.

If you happen to be around interns or new professionals, take some time to ask them questions and really listen to what they have to say about the future of music therapy.

What did I learn yesterday?

Can't tell you!! (Confidentiality, you know! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!)

Thank you, interns, for talking to me. Keep going, and talk to others about your ideas of music therapy and your future. Your opinions and attitudes and needs are crucial to the profession.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Going on a Squeegee Hunt

One of the songs that I sang over and over and over again as a song leader in Girl Scouts was "Going on a Squeegee Hunt ." Now, you may be wondering what a "squeegee" is - good question! It is an imaginary creature that was probably invented by some obscure girl scout in Southern California many, MANY years ago! Anyway, similar to the traditional children's song of " Going on a Lion/Bear/Tiger Hunt ," the song takes you through a sequential process over, under, around, and through various obstacles towards a goal. Today, as I am sitting here writing, I am thinking about the poor squeegee being hunted. It is just in its cave, trying to do its squeegee things without interruption, when suddenly, BOOM! Some Girl Scout arrives to poke it! The poor squeegee does what it can - it jumps up and chases the Girl Scout all the way home!! This has not been a good work week. It is amazing how people will make mountains out of molehills. Here is the deal. I se...
Read more

There's Always Something...

I am starting to fill up the gaps in my music therapy schedule with individual music therapy treatment times. This is a great feeling. I'll start individual treatment on July 11th when we come back for our second session of our Extended School Year. I'll get things going for three weeks, reevaluate, and then start up again when the regular school session starts. I am excited about getting back into this type of therapy. I've missed it, but there's something else going on. I'm a bit scared. You would think that my 23+ years of being a therapist would make things lots easier for me to jump back into this type of therapy interaction, but I am a bit scared still. I think most of these feelings have to do with forced light duty and almost a year of being out of my comfortable routine. I know that some of these feelings are rooted in fears of being hurt again. I don't want to be hurt again. I know that many of these feelings are somewhat irrational, but they sti...
Read more

Fun Friday: Preparation

Image
I am going to go to one of my favorite things tonight and tomorrow - a scrapbooking crop which morphs into doing whatever crafting thing you want to do in the company of other people who craft. A local craft store offers these every so often, and I am finding them to be pretty inspirational and well worth the $25 they charge. So, I am going to be spending some of today preparing for this event. I have no idea what I want to make tonight, but I know that I don't want to make more books. I already have five books that need to be finished and decorated, so I do not need to make more. I might focus on making the things to go into the books instead of the books themselves - clusters, hidden paperclips, pockets, envelopes, belly bands, and that sort of stuff. The largest problem with this type of thing is not knowing what I will be in the mood to make when I get there. I have to pack up my resources, so I also need to think about what I want to do. In the last crop that I attended, I spe...
Read more