My name is GraceAnne Prince and I am the new intern at Music Therapy Connections.
A little about me
I was born and raised in Rochester Illinois, so I am no stranger to Springfield. I have two brothers and a sister and between all of us there are too many cats to count. Currently, I have two cats Pomegranate (Pom) and Kiwi but I am an avid believer in the cat distribution system so I will probably end up with more.
I graduated from Rochester High School where I had a wonderful music education and was involved in Madrigals, vocal jazz, and the musicals. After high school, I went on to study Music Therapy at Western Illinois University. While there, I was a part of many ensembles including University Singers, Chamber Singers, Vocal Jazz, and Jazz Combo and was a part of the WIU Music Therapy Association. After being in Macomb for the five years I was in school, I am finally back in my home town.
Outside of internship I love to nap, sing, play guitar, snuggle with my cats, and spend time with my family, friends, and my partner. I also really love theater and have been involved in shows at the Muni and the Hoogland. I have been singing and performing since I was two years old!
My journey to Music Therapy and MTC
I decided I wanted to be a Music Therapist almost ten years ago. When I was fifteen I did some research on what resources were available to siblings of children with Autism. My brother was diagnosed with Autism when he was sixteen and I was eight so it was a topic close to heart. In my search I came across a research paper about a music therapy group for the siblings of Autistic children. This paper led me to the website of the American Music Therapy Association where I read as much as I could about music therapy. At that moment I decided that music therapy is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Lucky for me MTC was close to the town I grew up in and I knew of it before going off to college. When asked in school where I thought I would go for an internship, I always said I thought I would end up here. It took a while and plans changed but things came together. I moved back home and quickly found out that MTC was open to taking an intern and now I am here.
My first week
This week, although short because of Labor Day, was my first week. I got to observe multiple therapists in a multitude of settings in both group and individual sessions. In one week I saw as many sessions as I would see in one semester at college. At Western I never really got the chance to observe because COVID hit and we were all sent home the semester I was supposed to observe. Getting to observe has been a really cool opportunity. It has given me the chance to slow down and rely on what I learned at WIU. When I observe I write down everything I see and then I get to discuss with the music therapist after the session and compare notes. I know I am going to grow and learn so much over the course of my internship here.
My takeaways from this week
FLEXIBILITY Plans change, sometimes you can’t plan at all, and sometimes new things are thrown at you. You have to be flexible. It is something I have been working on and continue to work on. In this field of work you always have to be ready to change plans and go with what is being given to you. I loved seeing the music therapists I observed having to be flexible and how they did so with such grace.
SELF COMPASSION During a meeting I had this week I talked about how I struggle to not listen to my inner critic on every matter. When you are starting something new, in my case internship rather than school, it is easy to be critical and doubt every decision I make. My focus as I continue is self compassion. If I wouldn’t say it to a friend or a client why would I say it to myself.
I AM A MUSIC THERAPIST In the same vein as self compassion was this declaration. It has been hard for me to see past the fact that I am still technically a student. This has led to me questioning everything I do. In a meeting with my supervisor she told me this. This has become somewhat of a mantra over the last couple of days when I start to doubt myself. While not certified yet, with every day of internship I am on my way.
I want to thank you for embarking on this journey with me. I know this is just the beginning but I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one.
GraceAnne
