Stress On Top of Stress

Eesh. It has been a rough couple of days, and I am feeling the stressors piling up on each other. I feel a bit like Luisa in Encanto - under the pressure of more and more weight while wanting to remove the weight of loved ones. No details here, but there are family considerations going on that are hard to navigate from 1500 miles away. To add to it all, I had a finger injury on Wednesday, caused by a client, which means Worker's Comp and the associated headaches that go along with that type of medical issue.

If you're thinking, "oh, so we're doing THIS again," just know that I'm feeling it as well. I find out today if there is any hidden damage to the finger that got wrenched all the way back on Wednesday morning. This is one of the two fingers that got injured back in 2020 - it is NOT the one that had the tendon separation; it is the one that had a small fracture at the distal phalange. The injury is at the proximal phalange and metacarpal this time. 

When I went to the doctor's office on Wednesday, two interesting things happened. The first was that one of the techs asked me if I worked for another facility that works with clients similar to mine. I don't and indicated such. It was nice to know that they see many folks from that facility. The second thing was that the doctor remembered me from an incident that happened in 2017. Why do my medical professionals remember me? Do others have that experience?

I get to do all three sessions today because my intern is taking the day off to celebrate Homecoming with the band of her university. I get a morning of planning time and then two groups and one reward session before doing bus duty and heading off to the city to see the doctor. Ad my appointment isn't until 4pm, I will be heading home in the height of traffic from the city where everyone is heading home - not my usual commute where I can go fast down the rural highways. Today's commute will be complicated by city traffic. I might make a detour to get some nostalgia food, but I might not. It will really depend on what I hear from the doctor today.

At the moment, I am not supposed to use my left extremity for anything. This is a problem because I am VERY left-handed. I am having to use my keyboard to facilitate accompaniments to TMEs because I cannot use my left hand to chord. My plans for the week have significantly changed, let me tell you!

One of the things that I like to tell my interns at times like these is that one of my secrets to longevity is flexibility. When you are never completely sure what will happen next in any sort of situation then you constantly see opportunities and possibilities. When you are locked into "this is what WILL happen," you can miss all sorts of things that can shift and enrich your music therapy.

My clients provide interns and me with ample opportunities to practice what I preach about flexibility. As a result, my music therapy practice looks very different from some music therapists and similar to yet others. I tend to go with session strategies rather than full-out plans. I've learned that strategies offer the most flexible TME implementation that encourages me to shape my music therapy to my clients. Isn't that what our job is, after all? Using music for the benefit of our clients? Always?? 

With my free morning, I am going to watch some movies while cleaning my office space. I don't have to do much of anything other than get some chores done before the two hours of client contact scheduled for today. If I am successful, I will have clean floors by the end of the morning. If I am not successful, I will have about 8 hours next week for grade prep and parent-teacher conferences that I can use to finish the job. I will need something to do to fill that time.

It is time to get going. See you tomorrow...