music, therapy, and me

Surprise! I managed to finish up my very busy day on the 5th of November, just to end up in the hospital for a surprise gallbladder removal and additional bile duct procedure. I didn't plan this AT ALL, but I am thinking that this may be part of my recent fatigue, blah moods, and issues, so I am very grateful to be on the other side of all of this - minus my gallbladder and some gallstone fragments. I spent three days in the hospital and am now at home, trying to figure out what is going to happen next. My post-procedure instructions are pretty vague - go back to work when work duties no longer cause pain. Hm. That really depends on what duties you are talking about. You can drive when you don't have any pain when braking. Okay. Go to your primary care physician within 5 days - but the doctor won't see me because it is impossible to get an appointment with them, so I'm going to have to go as a walk-in tomorrow because I need some more guidance about what I need to a...

Just so you know, this isn't a happy, peppy, rah-rah type of music therapy post. I am going through some rough times at my job. If you are looking for a glimpse into the reality of being a music therapist, please read on. If you only want to hear happy things about this profession, then PLEASE skip this post entirely! Yesterday was another rough day with my clients. This is the current theme to what I write about because every day seems to be a repetition of the bad day that came before it. On days like today, when I am dreading going to my particular work place, I have to remind myself of several things. First, this, too, shall pass. Second, it is not personal. Third, I choose, every day, to work with persons with these particular challenges.  Fourth, it is work that I am very good at. I have to remind myself of these things on a regular basis these days because of the rough situations happening in every class session that is going on right now. I had three people st...

I decided that I rant enough to warrant a new visual!! I am a member of several music therapy groups over on Facebook, and I keep noticing that there is a huge disconnect between employers and potential employees. I spend lots of my quiet time (and there is LOTS of that right now) thinking about this miscommunication or misalignment or whatever is actually happening and wondering if there is a way to bring the two parties together a bit more than they are right now. Here's the deal. There are wonderful music therapy employers out there who cannot find music therapists to fill jobs. There are music therapists out there (I don't know them, so I can't decide whether they are wonderful or not) who lament that they cannot find a job. The solution seems easy to me, but I know that it isn't all that easy. When I'm asked about the music therapy job market, I state that there are plenty of jobs out there (and I do believe this is true), but that you have to go where ...