A Break from Music Therapy

Today is the last official day of my beginning of summer break, and I am not quite ready to move back into the world of music therapy.

I took the first week of summer school off because I had family visits due to a medical procedure that I had to go through that confirmed a diagnosis but did absolutely nothing else for me. I am now navigating more specialists and more appointments for the next steps of this process, and it has been good to have an empty house and lots of time available to get this situation moving forward. I have taken a couple of naps during this week. I have also fielded many phone calls about test results, next steps, referrals, and appointments. I am going to my first appointment this morning to arrange the surgery that I need. I am hoping to get a call today from the other department that I need to be part of in the near future. Life gets more complicated when I go back to work, so I am hoping to have things set before I go back to work on Monday.

I appreciate breaks from inhabiting the role of "therapist." 

This comment doesn't mean that I don't love my job, my profession, or my clients. It means that everyone needs a break from helping every so often. In my case, it is crucial that I have this time off right now, and I am glad that I took the time without qualms.

While my break is almost over, I am not quite ready to go back to my role as therapist. I really don't have much of a choice, but I wish I had more time away from being a therapist right now. My personal health issues are taking over much of my thoughts at the moment. I hope I can dive back into summer sessions without too much disruption, but who knows what will bubble up during sessions?? It is hard to separate the personal from the professional at times.

To add to the mess, I tend to be a very private person who doesn't share things with just anyone. I now have to tell my supervisor about my upcoming surgery and recovery needs. I have to share bits about these new appointments. I am not sure where the boundary is between need-to-know and too-much-information. I will share what I need to share and then move forward. That's all I can do at this point, but I feel like I am spinning in a whirlpool in a tiny little boat without an oar.

At the moment (5:29 am), I am sitting in my bed, trying to figure out what I will be doing on Monday when my clients arrive. I have a mess in my office space where I had to consolidate the drums and storage cabinets from my small storage closet to my large storage closet because I am now sharing my space with the vocational department. I need time to rearrange my area to make it functional again, and I will not have that time. I do have to get that task finished before my surgery because I will not be able to lift anything after the surgery. So, I will get to work on Monday morning, wade through the 100+ emails that will have little to do with me, update documentation for discharged clients and new clients, empty two cabinets so I can move them to their places in the room, and then start my sessions. I think we will focus on our Country of the Month so I can rest my body. In between sessions, I will keep working on my office space so I can get that task finished by the end of the month. We have a new classroom to put into the schedule, so there are changes to my energy and my implementation pattern to get used to. Nothing about summer school is easy.

It is time to get going with my day. I have to take a shower, prepare for a consultation appointment with the surgeon, and just get through the rest of the day. I might go see a movie. Friday movies are something I do during the summer because I do not work on Fridays - we go to a four-day workweek during the summer session. I have an unlimited pass, so I take advantage of that fact during summer. It is nice to sit in a dark theater and watch stories happen. By noon today, I should know a bit more about my near future and the surgery that will be happening. I am glad that I can focus on what I need to think about right this moment before I head back into music therapy on Monday.

See you soon.

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