Thoughtful Thursday: I'm Humbled to Accept That You Now Follow Me on Twitter...


Do you ever have an "ultimate fan" moment? You know, the type of request on social media that just makes you feel a bit excited and very humbled and somewhat curious about why someone wants to connect with you? A retired music therapist (who isn't really all that retired, just on to different adventures around the world) just posted that she had such a moment, and I just had one, too!

Now, this wasn't a huge thing, but it is a step closer to something that I really wanted to be part of, but wasn't nominated for - it was my own fault, really - I didn't let anyone know that I really wanted to be part of this big step for our professional organization, but I still really wanted to be remembered and part of this process. Maybe someday...

Anyway, I went over to one of my social media accounts today and found that the Commission on Education and Clinical Training (I refuse to use the rest of the commission's title because I think we should be forward thinking rather than "right now" thinking - just a little picky deal on my end) followed me! Sure, I was one of 92 accounts that they followed, but THEY followed ME!

Squeeeeeeeeee!

This is similar to having my "ultimate fan" moment with Clive Robbins who walked past one of my displays and then did a double-take and came back to talk to me about the things that I was sharing. We shared a wonderful 10 minutes of conversation, and I spent the entire time internally squealing because, I mean, CLIVE ROBBINS!

Now, I've been a music therapist for over two decades, and I still have my moments of awe when a music therapy "name" knows who I am or sits down and talks to me about something. It always makes me think about my personal music therapy mentors and the ways that they affected my life as a music therapist - both in good and not-so-good ways.

I also get a thrill when someone looks a my name tag and then says, "Oh, I know you. I read your blog/went to your intern webinar/liked your emails to internship directors/etc." WOW! It is such a humbling experience to know that someone out there is interested in what I have to say. I experience the same thing when someone comments on anything that I've written. Thank you for reading what I have to say about this profession and about how I fit into it.

The Commission (that title is SUCH a mouthful) met this last week to start their important work of thinking about the educational and clinical training of music therapists. I hope that they are considering all the things that were brought up during the Master's Level Entry debate decade as well as practical considerations of music therapists in the field providing students with the invaluable clinical experience (NOTE: this is ME!), often without any sort of financial benefit and lots of extra work. 

I can't wait to see their first tweet! What's going on??

Thanks for following me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more