music, therapy, and me

There are nineteen days between now and the end of the work month for me. Fifteen of those days are work days, and I am getting ready for the last winter break of my career (probably). This is a year of lasts for me. I will be retiring from my current job and transitioning into another role as a music therapy professional at the end of my contract year. This is my last December as a school-based music therapist, and I am both happy and nostalgic about it all. If you know anyone who works in school settings, then you know that this is one of the most difficult times of the year - in ANY school. In my school, things are compounded by it being a residential and day setting for children, adolescents, and young adults who have significant developmental and psychiatric symptomology. Amplify the usual pre-holiday excitement with trauma backgrounds and the uncertainty of family involvement and you get the miasma that my students bring to their music therapy sessions this time of year. Meanwhil...