Day Two: The Start of Day Two as Solitary Music Therapist

I was the only music therapist at work yesterday. My interns were attending conference, so I insisted that they do all the free conference things available to students this year and take the day off from work. There were some brief statements of feeling like they could do a half day, but I squashed that! 

Truth is, I am happy to have some time alone in my job.

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE being an internship director and I enjoy being around music therapy interns. I would not be doing this part of my job if I didn't find that interns were an essential part of my professional experience. I really wouldn't.

I simply miss being a music therapist sometimes.

When I am in mentor/guide role for my interns, they take over my job. That's what they are supposed to do, and that is what I expect from each and every one of them, but it costs me a bit. I end up sitting and watching rather than doing what I still love after 27 years of being a professional music therapist. I have to mute myself because it is not my job to be "therapist." It is my job to be "mentor/coach/etc." I am not identified as "music therapist" in the eyes of some of my clients - I am "strange lady sitting in the dark office who occasionally talks about things." 

The truth is that I need occasional breaks from being internship director to be music therapist.

COVID-19 gave me three months of being the only music therapist on campus, and I admit that I enjoyed it. My intern at the time had to spend time away due to our limitations, so she was engaged in more observation and competency-based project work than in client interaction. I was the only person offering in-person sessions for my clients, and I enjoyed that so very much. Once our limitations were relaxed a bit, the interns came back, and I was glad to see and work with them again, but I missed the client interactions.

In the past 24 hours, I have led two music therapy groups, found out that we have yet another COVID-related schedule change, tried to figure out plans for the next new way of doing therapy with my clients, and cleaned my office as much as I can before we get to move into our new storage area. I did my documentation yesterday, so I have no reason to get to work before 7:30. I am going to try to stay here until 6:30, but I'm already starting to feel the "I'm going to be late" itch at 5:37.

I did find a new blank book on sale at Walmart the other day, and it is sitting on my desk, waiting to be used. This is the type of book that I am currently using for my personal bullet journal/planner, and I am itching to get this one started, but I have lots of space left in my personal planner. I don't want to waste the book I already have going, but a blank book is calling my name...

I guess there would be no harm in opening it up and numbering the pages...that could keep me busy for some of this time. Maybe I will format this one for a work planner/journal. I could incorporate some of the things that I like about my personal system into my work system - color, formatting, journaling, idea generation...Hmmm. Now the question comes - do I start it now, or do I wait until the new calendar year? I may be able to more creative things if I wait because my fingers may be more dexterous in the new year, but they may not be ready even then. I could use tabs and have sections - one for interns, one for session information, one for faculty meeting notes, and maybe some others as well. This train of thought will definitely keep me occupied for the rest of the time that I have before I have to leave for work. Time to get out my planning book and brainstorm some concepts...

Then, I will go to work, lead my three sessions, do some cleaning, do some documentation, do some thinking and scheming, and then come home to start my weekend.