by Alisabeth Hopper | Apr 19, 2016 | MTC, Self Care
I often use words like fostering, supporting, and the big one — facilitating — when discussing the purposes of Music Therapy and how music can be therapeutic. I work alongside our clients to support them in growth and achievement of their goals and consider the environment, instruments used, methods applied, music played and assimilate them into one experience. I invest in them so that they will succeed. But it occurred to me the other day: when am I investing in myself, and is it enough?
The simple answer was rarely, and no.
Now, I am not talking about your standard self-care plan, which usually consists of exercising, watching a movie, or going to bed an hour early just because. Though these things are important, I am talking about the other side of self-care: artistry.
You are an artist. Say it with me: I am an artist. If you chose a profession in music, you did it for a reason. This realization hit me like a ton of bricks, but then something amazing happened: “You know what, I AM an artist.” It was in that moment that I realized that I had been neglecting my passion for music. I chose then and there to set aside five minutes every day to play one song that I love, or write, or something that was just for me that was far far far away from “Old MacDonald”.
I took this time to facilitate artistry in myself, I provided an environment, chose instruments, applied methods, and played music which seamlessly assimilated into one experience.
How are fostering artistry within yourself?
by Alisabeth Hopper | Apr 12, 2016 | Class Registration, Parents
We are now three weeks into our new social skills class called Let’s Get Social, and it has already been a wonderful adventure. Although “adventure” might be an accurate term for most classes, this one has called for a much different perspective.
Up to this point, our primary focus has been on our Listen and Learn for Little Ones Classes, which are created to support and encourage development for children birth to age five within a rich musical environment. In those classes our approach is broad and reaches many domains. That being said, the structure of a social skills class, focusing on one domain, calls for a different approach.
Every social skills class and session will be different. Every session is planned based upon what is best for each group as a whole and the individuals within in. At the beginning of this session, I decide to search for the big question.
The big question is essentially the goal for that group to achieve by the end of the session. This could be anything from “How can I support them this week to achieve team work and collaboration?” to “How can I facilitate a session where they make eye contact and communicate verbally to one another?”. This is an achievable adaptation to traditional assessment, planning, and documentation, because our sessions are only five weeks I made our focus specific and inclusive of everyone.
In this structure I have seen a great response from clients and families. It is amazing how quickly an idea can be applied and put it into practice. Those are the moments that stick with me: when I see individuals apply themselves and they see the success happen right then and there. I am so grateful to share in those moments with them.
by Alisabeth Hopper | Mar 21, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello all,
This week has been filled with goodbyes and what we call “closure”. I never anticipated how incredibly challenging this was going to be.
My experiences of closure up to this point has been limited to a three month treatment period. Where I would, at the end of my practicum experience, say goodbye to my clients and tell them that our time had unfortunately come to an end. Then, I was focused on my clients and their acceptance of my services being terminated.
This has been nothing like that.
I have spent six months with the same students and clients. They are all special to me in their own way. Saying goodbye to them and allowing them to transition back to their prior therapists has been more challenging than I could have anticipated. I am finding that even though I am excited for my own professional experience to begin, I will miss spending time with these clients every week.
It is the end of a period in my life dense with growth and excitement. As I transition into the next phase of my life I am looking forward to what’s ahead and grateful to have been blessed with such a wonderful internship.
There is only one last step to becoming a board certified music therapist: the exam.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 29, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
As some of you may or may not know, I am coming up on the end of my six month internship. I have three weeks until I take the board certification exam and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone! Beginning the final month of internship has called for quite a bit of reminiscing. In that same spirit, I thought I would share with you what has been on my mind.
5 Things I Would Say to Myself as A Freshman in Music Therapy
- Your major is “weird” and that’s okay. You will get your fair share of disapproving chuckles and confused looks when asked about your major but if you have faith in what you do, and you know the efficacy of what you do then that’s what matters.
- You will live through Music History. I promise. And you might even learn something along the way. ;)
- Take care of you. College is hard, and unfortunately life after college isn’t any less crazy. So take the time, rest, enjoy yourself, and find the balance because this isn’t a sprint, its a marathon.
- Take it all in. It’s so cliche, but it’s true: you begin college and before you know it you’re writing a blog at the end of your internship about five things you would say to yourself five years ago if you could. So just know…
- You’re going to be okay. There is no recipe for how to muscle through college and everything that is ahead of you so don’t worry about doing it right, just do it. You’ve got this. Wake up every morning and know that all of your hard work is for something, and that one day you will be proud of where you have been and how far you have come.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 19, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello again,
Throughout my time at Music Therapy Connections I have seen all of my supervisors use an iPad. I have seen the iPad’s used for everything from a visual aid, to a song book, and in the hospital setting as our tote of instruments. And although it serves many different purposes in many different settings I think its safe to say that everybody has their go to apps. These are mine…
5 Apps for the Music Therapy Intern
- Tabs HD: This is my absolute favorite app. It is essentially the application from the website www.ultimateguitar.com. The website itself is well known for its wide selection of chord and lead sheets. The selection is phenomenal and with the app you can have it all at your fingertips. I use it for on the spot song choice given a list of either my favorites or the Top 100. The app itself is free, but to use it to its fullest potential it requires a purchase of the service TabPro which can be paid by a monthly cost, or a one time fee.
- GuitarTuna: This is a straight forward tuner. I know, I know, there are so many tuner apps out there but this one is really fantastic. The image shown on the screen is of the head of the guitar and each note name is given next to its corresponding tuning key. It also uses different colors to correspond with the correct pitch and whether it is flat or sharp as you tune. This is a wonderful tool for lessons, adaptive lessons, and in general new learners! And the best part? Its free!
- Emotions: This app is very simple. It displays four images of people showing a certain expression, then it audibly says an emotion word and the player is supposed to choose the corresponding image. Now, what I love about this app is that it uses complex emotion words and at times it is difficult to differentiate, even for me. This is a tool that I use with some of our students with Autism and other disabilities to work past happy, sad, and angry, and really delve into identifying complex emotions. This app is also free.
- Relax M. HD: This app has many different sounds to choose from for the listener to create a customized relaxing audio. It includes anything and everything from light piano music to river and bird sounds. Also, once you have created your relaxing audio you can adjust the volume on each sound and put it on a timer. This is a great tool to use where your given client is particularly sensitive to certain sensory input as they can choose exactly what they like or find relaxing. In addition a relaxation script could be spoken over the chosen track. And again, this is a free app.
- Tiktik: Finally, this app has been a game changer for me. Tiktik is an organization app that is set up in a to do list format. You can create multiple lists which are color coded and if you choose, are incorporated into your master list. I love that this app actually has check boxes so when an item is completed I get the satisfaction of clicking the box and watching it disappear from my list. As an intern I keep my job, internship, and home life in separate lists and as everyday comes I can look at my master list and accomplish what needs to be done one day at a time.
These are my absolute favorite apps. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
-AH
