Being An Internship Supervisor: When Care for Self Overcomes Need to Be Present

Last week was a week where I was gone from work more than I was present.

This happens sometimes - and it usually happens for me more in the months of October and November than any other time of the year. I get strange ailments that cannot be explained during these months. Last week was one of those weeks. I am still having issues, but I've not received the medical assistance that I need, so I am maintaining my bland diet and trying very hard to keep going to work. I know that I am not contagious, so I can go to work and be miserable just as easily as sitting at home.

One of the things that I have learned about being an internship supervisor is that intern independence is a good thing, but it has to be taught and modeled. I try to talk about independence with my interns - after all, my supervisor leaves me to do my job without checking in on me...pretty much ever, so my interns have the same freedoms. They do not have to spend their office hours on campus (this is a change from my expectations - I am expected to be on campus during my prep time). Most of them stay right where they are, but they are allowed to go and work in other locations. I do not dictate what has to happen during their office hours. That time is their own to use as they need. If I am gone, they are usually able to continue as music therapist without me sitting in my office watching every move they make. I strive to have interns who know the job well enough to run music therapy sessions without me.

On the other hand, I also do not like to abandon my interns to the vagaries of my fellow staff members for long periods of time. This is a situation where being a pandemic internship director has really helped me out. Before COVID, if I got sick for an extended period of time, I would have to scramble to arrange for additional assignments for my interns to work on while we were at home. Now, I have an entire subset of assignments that can be done at home, specifically because we went through COVID. If I end up having to spend time in the hospital this fall, I have a list of alternate assignments that my intern can complete that will cover the competencies and provide experiences that are valuable for both the intern and our clients. In addition, I make a visual aid box for each intern to take home - things that they have selected to complete during inclement weather days and days off.  The boxes include markers, pictures to color, file folders, and ideas for keeping busy when working is not possible.

The point of all of this is to acknowledge that there are times when internship supervisors have to be out. There are times when I cannot be around my interns because I cannot be around my clients due to significant health reasons. I also think it is a good thing to give my interns the opportunity to be the only music therapist in the room, but I do not get sick just to give them that chance. 

Time without me can be something that helps an intern realize that they are Therapist with a capital T, not just student or intern, but Therapist! I do not worry about the occasional day away from my interns for just this reason.

Now, back in 2019, I had to put my intern's time at the facility on hold because I had to be away for three weeks after an unexpected surgery. At that time, I went through the process of notifying professors about the change in expectations. My intern was off for most of that time as well. We both scrambled to find things for her to do. In 2020, of course, everything changed on March 13th. I had an intern who was not allowed to be present for three months. We all scrambled to figure out how to get hours without having to completely stop the internship. She ended up having to extend her internship for about a month after her original stop date at the end of it all. With her help, I was able to identify things that she could do in order to gain appropriate and relevant hours through non-client contact projects and assignments. She had a great visual aid library when she was finished!

I am hoping that I will not have to take any more time off during the next several months for the intern who will be around until February. I know, though, that my intern will be well-equipped to handle sessions without me if something does happen, and that we can find things to do that will get the intern's hours completed.

By the way, at the end of this week, Intern #34 is graduating! I am looking forward to seeing yet another intern move from my program to head out into the music therapy profession! Each time, there is sadness and pride that accompanies them as they move away from my world into their own. Time to get the graduation gift ready and to support the intern through the lasts - last sessions, last paperwork, last days...