Being An Internship Supervisor: Holiday Hype

It is time for the November pinnacle of holiday hype. We have two days before we go on our Thanksgiving break in my part of the world, so kids and staff are excited, terrified, and jealous of others. Our significant behaviors of concern peaked (hopefully) just over a week ago, but they are continuing with different groups and students. I have been talking to my intern quite a bit about holiday hype and that most of the things that have been happening in our sessions is pretty normal for this time of year.

We are working on what to do when your population is very emotional about everything that is going on around them. We are focusing on simple, easy, and motor-filled therapeutic music experiences for our students because they really can't seem to focus on anything else. The biggest problem with the holiday hype is that it doesn't end when this holiday weekend is over. Nope. It keeps going until the middle of January in my facility.

So, how do I combat the holiday hype? We don't do much "celebration" TMEs in my music therapy room. We keep the structure as close to our regular routine as possible. I might sing a turkey song every once in a while, but I tend to avoid the saturation of holiday events and activities in the music therapy room. This is partially because not everyone at the facility celebrates holidays and partially because I get tired of the bombardment of holiday stuff surrounding us all. 

Now, I have LOTS of holiday TMEs in my database and in my month boxes, but I do not always use them. I have them, if I want them, but I don't always want to do those things. So, they stay in my month boxes and in my database.

We have eight groups and one individual session to go before break.

I am not doing anything special for our holiday this week. I am looking forward to having this long weekend for sleeping and reading and just not being around other people at all. I am ready for some solitary time and struggled significantly with getting out of bed and getting ready for work this morning.

I know, based on my experience of being a student before, that my students are feeling like I am, but on a larger scale. My students feel things differently that I do. Since about a third of my students are residential, they will not be going home for the holiday. Some of my residential students are going home, and they are telling their peers about it. The peers are not happy about other people going home when they are not. Most of the acting out and behaviors of concern that we are experiencing in our music therapy sessions are due to jealousy. That is another reason I do not do much with holiday celebrations in the music therapy room. We deal with behaviors that come from grief and anger during holidays.

My intern has not worked in a school during this time before, so the changes in our clients seems a bit unusual. For me, though, this is just what happens in October through January.

I have eight groups and one individual session to go. Time to head to work. See you tomorrow.