Hello again!
For those of you who didn’t see last weeks post; my name is Alisabeth Hopper and I am the intern at Music Therapy Connections. I will be posting here every week throughout my internship so be sure to check in!
This week was a bit out of the norm as Monday was a holiday and Thursday both of my supervisors were out of town. Thankfully, I got quite a bit of practice time leading up to a Listen & Learn for Little Ones class I was to co-lead with another therapist.
I went into this experience with plenty of nerves, and much excitement. I was a bit jittery and fumbling in the first couple of songs. That is, until I was playing “Down on Grandpa’s Farm” and one young boy suggested that we sing about a fox. I couldn’t help but laugh when I had to ask him “…and what does the fox say?” The entire group, parents and children, were belly laughing at our new verse, and I felt my nervousness drift away!
At times it can be difficult to set our nervousness and anxiety aside, but I have found that I am not able to be fully present in the session or class unless I do. Once I take that step I begin to experience a genuine musical moment with all of the participants.
I believe that this experience is one of the things that Music Therapy brings to the table that is unique, significant, and lifelong: a connection. What we do with that connection, that’s what makes it therapy.
Thank you for reading! See you next week!
– AH
