Thoughtful Thursday: Yet Another Crop of Co-Workers Who Just Don't Get It

'Tis the season for working with a new group of co-workers who do not understand what music therapy is or how music therapy works in my therapy space. I have had to ask every single one of them not to yell positive reinforcement over the music - whether it be my singing or the recordings that we are listening to or the improvisations we are creating as a group. I got spoken to by the principal about it as well.

Now, I am not against positive reinforcement - not at all. I am against co-workers yelling over the therapeutic medium in order to give such positive reinforcement. I am against the interruption of the music processing and creation that occurs when people start to yell in order to be heard over the music. I am against the interruption of instruction. I am tired of constantly being interrupted by people who do not get what I do and how I am doing it.

I am trying not to take it personally at the moment, but I also feel like I am repeating myself over and over again. The new staff do not realize that I have relationships with all of the students in their classrooms - that I know those students' habits, quirks, and responses to musical stimuli better than they know those students' habits, quirks, and responses. It is just remarkable that our egocentricity prevents us from realizing that others have pasts. Oh, dear.

I get tired trying to do my job while trying to provide my co-workers with appropriate training about what music therapy is and how to engage within the therapy session. With the constant turnover at our job, I am constantly having to reeducate co-workers. It is exhausting.

Anyway, I am off to do some more staff education at the same time that I am doing my best to keep my clients engaged in meaningful musicking. I just wish that I could educate folks and that they would actually listen to me.

Oh, well. Thursday exhaustion and all that is always interesting. I think I will get my fast food fix taken care of this morning. Breakfast sandwiches, anyone??

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