by Sammy | Aug 5, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello everyone! My name is Sammy Springer and I am the new intern at Music Therapy Connections. As everyone knows, Alisabeth was the previous intern and is now currently a music therapist at Music Therapy Connections! I will be carrying out her tradition of writing blogs for the Intern’s Corner for the next six months. That being said, I thought I would share some information about me this week so you all could get to know me a little better.
I grew up in Middleton/Madison, Wisconsin and went to college to study music therapy at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. My primary instrument is the flute and I have been playing since I was eight years old. However, I also love playing the guitar and the piano! Since my junior year of high school I knew music therapy was the right career path for me; it seems unbelievable that I just finished my first week of my internship, but nonetheless, here I am fulfilling my dreams!
My first week as an intern was a little overwhelming, but overall, exciting. I am so excited and ready to learn everything that I can during the next six months! During this week, I mainly observed sessions where I was able to learn a lot about songwriting, assessments, self-care, and different therapeutic processes.
Here are just some of the things that I learned this week that might be useful to students and other new interns:
- Take a journal with you everywhere.
My internship directors recommended this to me this week and I found it to be extremely helpful. Just this week I filled pages with observation notes, lyric ideas, and lists of everything that I either needed to do or remember. Also, journaling or even taking notes during sessions throughout the day is a wonderful way to go back and reflect at the end of the day. It’s an important part of the learning process to reflect on everything!
- Writing original songs is not that scary!
Writing your own songs is important because you can write a song that can be tailored to each individual and their specific goals/objectives. Writing original songs and becoming comfortable sharing them is a goal of mine. It may seem taunting at first, but it really isn’t that bad! I encourage everyone, especially students and new interns, to try writing their own songs and sharing them. I wrote one this week and had to share it with my supervisors as well as the other music therapists, and I got through it just fine.
I am not sure how many times I have heard this throughout my lifetime, but it is just starting to click for me. Going to bed at a decent time, eating healthy, and taking time out for ourselves each day is extremely important. This week I started going to bed early every night and noticed a huge increase in my energy level. Although, I am not very good at practicing self-care right now, but it is something that I will concentrate on practicing for the rest of my life. If we don’t take care of ourselves, there is no way that we can help other people. I am excited to learn more self-care techniques and start practicing them!
Thanks for following me on my journey!
*Sammy Springer
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
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 9, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello Again,
As students, interns, and music therapists, I think it’s safe to say that we are a passionate bunch. And when you love what you do it can be very difficult to take a step back, even when it is absolutely necessary. This is something I have been dealing with for the past month, and it has been a great learning experience that I would like to share with you.
The week that I came back from the holiday break, I began to have back pain which soon made it difficult to even get out of bed. After a doctors visit I learned that this is not a quick fix, and that it would be at least a few months before I would begin to feel the relief I was searching for.
Now, this was all fine and dandy because I was entirely convinced that I could go full speed ahead and be just fine. Except the fact that it hurts when I play guitar. When I realized this, panic ensued and I felt the worry sweep over me… No, you cannot take my guitar. I understand that to other people, the attachment I have to my guitar might be odd, but I’m sure that I am in good company here.
Soon thereafter I noticed that I was getting behind on my work, and that sitting in a chair and standing all day was not helping in the least. I began to feel overwhelmed and disappointed in myself. I had just passed the mid-point of my internship and I wanted to be able to do everything as planned so as to make the most of my short six months. It wasn’t until my supervisors Rachel and Katey spoke to me that I began to understand.
They expressed to me the importance of knowing your capabilities, and knowing your limits. Playing to your strengths and understanding when your body has had enough for the day. Katey compared this to having a bad cold, flu, or losing your voice for an extended period of time. It is true of anything. This is how I have been working effectively in the midst of everything…
- Simplify. One of the first things my supervisors did for me after I returned was to list my weekly responsibilities in level of importance so when I sat down to work I knew what was most important to complete and what could be done another time. Simplifying also means accepting that I don’t have to use my guitar at every session. I have been strengthening my other accompaniment skills even more in the process.
- Streamline. Use your time practically, and effectively. I have been doing this by going to bed early and getting up early, because I have minimal pain in the mornings, and utilizing the bean bags at work versus a chair because they are much more supportive than an upright chair. These things increase my longevity, energy, and drive throughout my day.
- Self-Care. Here’s the big one. Stop, and self-care. It is essential. No questions asked.
What I have found is that working this way feels good. It is productive and the work I do gets done faster. What I have found is not just a way to deal with an illness, pain… it is much bigger than that. This is the recipe for burnout prevention. Working with this level of simplicity, and a “make the best of your situation” attitude has been very effective for me. These are tools that have been so helpful to me, I wanted to share them with you.
Have an amazing week!
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Feb 7, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello everybody!
So far 2016 has been a whirlwind and we have already completed our first five-week session of Listen & Learn for Little Ones. This session we tried something a little different by splitting our little ones into two groups based on ages and development. We were all very excited to see how the parents and little ones would adjust to the change. As it turns out, they loved it!
What was most amazing is that the little ones who used to be reserved and quiet were coming out of their shells and participating throughout group in ways that they never had before. The change was instantaneous.
In our very first week of classes with the split, I was leading the older class and it was wonderful chaos. The little ones were laughing, dancing, singing, and playing; that is, until I took out the book. Then the running, screaming, and jumping stopped as they all quietly gathered around and watched in awe as I read The Little Blue Truck. They watched and listened with intent until the little blue truck in our story got stuck in the mud and I watched as the kids cried “Oh, no!” “He’s stuck in the mud!” and shook their heads with deep concern.
The age split allowed us as instructors to focus on more specific developmental markers to that age range and encouraged each child to come out of his or her own space and truly experience the class. I don’t think a single one of us could keep from sharing in the joy that these little ones experienced in music class that day and throughout the session.
-AH
