music, therapy, and me

For the last four years, I have had to stuff myself into a polo shirt four days out of the week. The school staff had to wear uniforms while no one else at the facility had a set outfit to wear. There was a rumor that everyone would be wearing polo shirts very soon, but something else happened instead. On Friday, I returned from peer supervision/lunch and found a piece of paper placed under my office door. It said that we no longer had to wear our old uniforms. We now have to wear something with the facility logo every day. We can wear jeans as well as slacks now. I hate polo shirts, so I am very happy that I can wear my t-shirt collection instead! When I talk to other music therapists about professional dress, I stress the following ideas: be covered from neck to knee - no gaps! be comfortable - no one likes a twitchy person or being the twitchy person. make sure you can do your job - I once met a music therapist who wanted to run around after my students in 3-inch heels. She ...

I did something today that is shaking up my view on what could possibly be. I contemplated a future with a completely new music therapy population and a slew of new challenges and possibilities. I am simultaneously excited and terrified of this situation, but I have made a commitment to me and to exploring what is possible. Yikes! I am going to sit over here, in my corner, and just shake for a time... For weeks, I've been talking about the need to shake things up in my life. I think this will do it - it's already making me think about our profession in a new way. I have always made a pledge that I would examine opportunities that came my way even if I wasn't looking for something new to do. This has led me into many new experiences that have enriched my professional life. I was asked to apply for a job several years ago. The entire experience was life-changing - it showed me that I really didn't want that job! It reinforced my ideas of what I wanted and needed in ...

Yesterday, I revealed my shameful secret that I didn't really enjoy or even try to read much music therapy research. Now, there is a talk radio show, run by Janice Lindstrom and Meganne Masko , that does talk about the research being done in our field, so I am not the only one who is seeking this research to practice link. That's reassuring as it seems, at times, that I am solitary in my opinions about this profession. Here is proof I am not alone. (By the way, here is the link to the most recent Journal Club podcast. Check it out!) I went back to work and during my planning time, I delved my way back into the most recent edition of the Journal of Music Therapy (JMT, 52(4)). This is the special focus edition. I read through the thoughts of Carolyn Kenny and Simon Gilbertson (who I have kind of "met" through the Online Conference for Music Therapy - coming soon!!). I am starting to understand what is meant by Arts Based Research and am finding that, while it doesn...

  Do you ever look back on a situation and wonder why you waited so long to acknowledge the situation? I am recovering from the first major surgery and hospital stay in my life, and I am glad that it is over! I am also glad that the timeline for "fixing" me played out in the best possible way for us all. I am also grateful to the people in my life who told me that I needed to do something very difficult for me, "take advantage" of them. I went into my bowel resection surgery with lots of trepidation. I had anxiety moments filled with scenes where they could not keep me under the anesthesia (did not happen, though I did apparently try to slide off the operating table once), where I awoke with a total colostomy (also did not happen), and where I didn't wake up at all leaving my mother to coordinate my funeral, junk distribution, and cat care. Thankfully, none of that happened, and I am on the mend! This is a good thing as it allows me to deal with the addi...

Lately I have been feeling restless. When these feelings sneak up on me, I have to stop and evaluate what is going on. Sometimes this means looking for another job, sometimes it is as simple as changing my hairstyle, and other times it means that I am frustrated with everything that goes on in my life. I am REALLY hoping that this can be solved pretty easily, but who knows. Anyway, in order to try to shake up my feelings of restlessness, I am trying to do something new. Actually, I am trying to do several things in a new way. BUSINESS: I am going to focus on my business plan in the next 3 months with the goal of accomplishing my dream of offering online continuing music therapy experiences to music therapists. At this time, I am hampered by a lack of funds to pay for the application fee, but I think I can swing it after 3 months of couponing and limited extra expenses. It is amazing how $250 is a huge cut in my entertainment budget, but in these financial times... you know the...

What if music therapy education was completely based on the competencies? What if music therapy clinical training was a full-time experience for music therapy students from the first day they walked into an academic program? What if every music therapist in the United States was a member of the American Music Therapy Association? What if music therapy was an essential part of all mental and physical health treatment and a consistent treatment modality in the education of all kids? What would music therapy look like then? I love thinking about "what ifs." There is a certain amount of "what if" thought when you are going through a session with a client. I find myself consciously (and unconsciously) thinking "what if I sped this rhythm up a bit? What would 'Q' do then?" So, I try it. I then see what happens. I evaluate and make more decisions based on more "what if" statements. Being open to the possibilities is important in...

You may have noticed that I have been blogging about current stressors present in my job at the moment. I have been thankful to have this forum as an outlet for some of my frustrations as writing has always been a cathartic experience for me. Seeing my feelings in word form often allows me to see patterns, twists, and paths to solutions. So, thank you for indulging my recent trend towards complaining. While the situation has not been resolved yet, I have had to disconnect from the situation to help with my own health. Friday was the day for the meeting with the teacher who has caused so much conflict in my life. The meeting was canceled, but I spent the night before the meeting in fitful sleep (typical for me when I'm stressed) and then spent the day in a blood pressure flush. I got home and found that my blood pressure was extremely high.  It is interesting to me that I often feel that I hate my job when I am experiencing some physical health issues. Once the health issues...

Have you ever been in the middle of a sticky situation that you are unable to get out of? How do you get yourself out of the situation? I have spent many hours in conflict resolution training as part of my various jobs as a music therapist. This has gone along with training on workplace violence, blood-borne pathogens, and many other topics. Of all the training that I have had over my 18 years of music therapy, I think that conflict resolution training has been the most valuable of them all. I work with children and adolescents that are under-served, unserved, or difficult to serve. They often show up at our facility in full combat mode - fighting over everything. Any question you ask is answered with a resounding "NO!" There is a conflict with any suggestion, any experience, anything that is perceived to be something that will lead to a fight. In my music therapy sessions, clients are allowed to refuse to participate. I do not mind. I know that music is not always...

The work week is over. Thank all that is good in this world that the week is over. This week presented me with many challenges. First, a teacher didn't bother to communicate with me that his class would be 20 minutes late to music therapy. I waited and left because they weren't where they were supposed to be. He arrived a bit later and announced that they were NOW ready for me. I told him that I cleaned up and left because they hadn't arrived. He started yelling at me that I was denying his students their IEP-based right to music therapy. He didn't like it a bit when I informed him that music therapy is not on any student's IEP at my facility. He stormed off to tell the principal. Second...the principal. There aren't many people that I just cannot work with, but unfortunately, she is one of these people. She informed me that I needed to "give the teacher his planning time." I couldn't believe that her concern was not for the students but ...

Leaping OUT of the Comfort Zone into the FRAY Here I am, again, after almost 15 years of settled routine, jumping into the job market. This has been precipitated by a significant change in how I feel my services are perceived by the administrators at my current facility. I am always heaped with compliments by folks who have never observed a session. They appear to get all of their information about my effectiveness from whether students smile when leaving the session - not very good quality control here. I have always told myself that I would pursue any and all opportunities that came my way... I have applied for a position as a Director of Music Therapy at a facility that I would never have considered two years ago. It is in a large metropolitan area and appears to be very well established in that area as a creative arts therapy program. I have my first interview tomorrow afternoon, and I am nervous. It is interesting how we can become comfortable in our routines and situations. I ...