music, therapy, and me

It is Monday, which means Gandalf gets to do her favorite thing - lick a graham cracker.  It is Monday, which means that MJ gets to do one of her favorite things - talk about supervising music therapy interns as part of her role in this profession. One of the most difficult parts of this role is being a gatekeeper to my clients and to my music therapy self. I do not automatically accept someone to my internship if I have an opening. I do not have to take an intern, ever, so I can afford to be choosy about who comes to work with me and with my clients. There are times when I do not actively seek an intern to be with my clients. There are times when I just want to be therapist and not have to be mentor/coach. The problem for me comes when I have applicants for a specific time that I do not feel will be a good match for me or for my program. Over the years that I have worked with interns, I have found that one of the most important indicators of whether they will be able to work with ...

I just got rejected...again...from something that I was hoping would happen this year. Oh well. After I get over my feelings of rejection and disappointment, I know I will be perfectly fine and dandy, but I have to get over those feelings first. I am feeling "less than" right now, and I don't like those feelings. On the other side, this means that I will save some money that I would have had to spend if I had been accepted to do what I wanted to do. Now I can stay out of the entire thing without remorse! That's a benefit. I don't like rejection. I don't know of many people in the world who like it. I think I will no longer offer my services to people who do not value them. There. If it wasn't a requirement, I think I would leave the organization completely - there are too many things happening that I don't like happening right now for my comfort. Unfortunately, I have to be a member of the organization to do what I want to do with my life. For the mome...

I received my first presentation rejection letter for the season this week. It was for a Make and Take CMTE to be offered at AMTA. They never go for this type of session, but I think it would be something well attended. Oh well. I'll keep the idea for myself and figure out a way to offer this idea to interested music therapists in other venues. This is not the first time that I've experienced rejection - I've experienced rejection in school programs, in presentation proposals, in friendships. It seems to happen all the time. When one rejection happens, all the others come flooding back. It always takes me some cognitive reframing to remember that rejection is a completely normal way of life and that things will be fine. I experience rejection in my clinical life as well. Music therapy is not a service that my students choose. The way things are set up at my facility state that all students will attend music therapy every week. They have to arrive at my room, but I d...