by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 21, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello All!
I am so glad to be back in the swing of things after the break and posting again!
It has been a whirlwind of a few months here at Music Therapy Connections. I am approaching my four month mark for my six month internship. I am now at the point where I am leading most of the sessions and interactions between students, clients, patients family, doctors, nurses, and so on. Every day I get asked questions like…“So you play guitar for the kids here?”, “You help them to relax?” or the most common response “What is music therapy?”.
So, what do you say? How do you explain what we do to parents, students, doctors, or someone who overheard you at the grocery store. Well..
- Who are you talking to? If you are speaking to a student or a child it is perfectly appropriate to use abbreviated terms and casual speech, but when parents, nurses, and other adults ask they usually want to hear the more clinical aspect of what we do and how we approach therapy.
- What is their need to know information? Are they asking about music therapy concerning their mother who has Dementia, their niece who has autism, or even themselves. If time permits it is very helpful to ask what sparked their interest. That can be help you to give them information and resources that cater to their interests.
- Finally, and this is a big one… TIME. Is this an inquiry via email, in a shopping line, in passing in the hallway or even on an elevator. What do you do when someone asks you the big question “So, what is music therapy?” and you have two floors to give them a clear and concise answer. AND GO!
I like to have my go to facts in my head to refer back to. They include…
- To be a music therapist you have to have a four year degree in music therapy and complete a six month internship full time totaling 1040 hours. After internship the student must take the board certification exam and pass to become a board certified music therapist or MT-BC.
- In music therapy we address non-musical goals like speech, cognition, social skills, emotions, and motor goals. If we were to focus on musical goals that would be more of an adaptive lesson.
- Music contributes to therapy in many ways including providing grounding and orientation, rhythmic stimulus for calming heart rate or promoting a steady consistent gait, and in general music comes with less verbal and physical expectations. There are many ways to achieve a successful therapeutic experience in music therapy without any speech at all.
Music therapy is a wide reaching profession. It is impossible to explain all of what we do in a few sentences in a line at the grocery store, but with a few go to facts we can all advocate for music therapy every day.
Best of luck!
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 1, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Happy New Year, everybody!
Can you believe that we made it? 2016 has begun!
I know for some of us a new year means a new start, a new workout regimen, a new set of books to read before next year, or a resolution.
To be honest I didn’t plan to have a “resolution” this year. Life is a bit hectic for me right now to say the least. I have finished four years of schooling and am officially over halfway finished with my internship. I am that much closer to being a certified professional and reaching a goal which I have been working toward and planning for since I was fourteen.
My plan for my break was to catch up on work and maybe even get ahead… so I’ll just be upfront with you… that did not happen. It is now three days until we are back in the grind of crazy life and this blog post is my first completed task on my to do list. Whats crazy though, is that I am entirely okay with it.
Over my break I actively chose to make decisions that would bring me joy, not happiness, but lasting, true joy. So instead of making myself complete and assignment that wasn’t due for another week, with a frazzled holiday mindset I chose not to. Instead, I spent time with my family, I laughed, I babysat my cousin, I bonded with my brother and brothers in law. I fostered relationships that were important to me. And when, on occasion I had free time alone after others had gone to sleep, I found that I enjoyed doing research and looking up ideas for the clients I see in my internship. I found that I would have bursts of random ideas for songs, interventions, even documentation.
I was inspired. The joy that I had decided to bring into my life was now fueling a passion and drive to complete the work I had determined to be taxing from the start.
My new years resolution this year is to choose joy in my daily life and actively pursue a personal and professional lifestyle which allows me to do that.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Jan 1, 2016 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello Everybody,
This last week has been much more of an introspective sort of week. My internship supervisors have completed my midterm evaluation and have asked me to evaluate myself as well. This is very difficult to do because I want to be the best therapist I can be. Unfortunately, that leads me to hold myself to unreasonable and at times, unrealistic expectations for myself.
So I have been trudging through this challenging task with all of this in mind. Fortunately for me a very important point was brought to my attention…
A few days ago I was working on the pediatrics floor of St. Johns hospital when I approached a patient’s room. As usual I knocked, said hello, introduced myself and what I do and asked if the patient would be interested in doing music with me. The patient shook his head and said no. With the guardian’s interest and encouragement I walked to the patients bedside and asked about the toys he was playing with.
Soon thereafter the patient agreed to playing a song. Throughout the session we took frequent breaks to talk about his family, toys, and interests of his. His affect was flat through most of the session but appeared to be relaxed so we kept going. Finally, it was time to go. After I sang goodbye, the patient’s eyes began to well up with tears and he nodded when his guardian asked him if he liked the music.
This patient did not express outright interest in active music making, but because I was able to engage with him he was able to have a musical experience that clearly meant a lot to him in the end.
The reason why I tell this story is because three months ago when I first began my internship, I would not have attempted engaged a patient after being told no. I’m not even sure that I would have left my supervisor’s side in any given patient’s room. Internships are meant to be challenging, difficult, new, exciting, terrifying, eye opening, and truly an experience that can only be defined as organized chaos. This enviornment fosters rapid growth.
To measure success without understanding where I have been and where I am now would be an entirely inaccurate and meaningless measurement.
So my very important point, or epiphany was centered around the idea of growth.
Growth is the most important thing. No greatness came from stagnation.
If you’re growing your getting closer to your goals everyday.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Dec 9, 2015 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello Everybody,
This last week at MTC was full of emotions whether that be anxiety, sadness, or pure joy. When last week began I was up to my neck in things to do, what with a midterm, multiple assignments, session planning, documentation, recording, and then of course trying to squeeze in time to see my family and enjoy a bit of the holiday season. I was beginning to feel short of breath because of the sheer amount of things to do.
Then on top everything else I had recently seen a patient I have cared for over quite some time become very ill. They were doing well and I think it was at the point that they said the magic word “discharge” that I felt relief and sadness roll over me. I was of course relieved that the patient was going home, but at the same time I had not yet faced the fact that we could have lost that patient. It was at that moment that I realized how bad it could have been. In my documentation later that night I wrote this:
I have recently realized that there is a way for most practicing music therapists to keep certain parts of their lives and emotions separate from their career, but that is next to impossible in the hospital setting. When you’re sitting at the bedside of a child in great pain, facing a new diagnosis that will change their life, or even a terminal diagnosis you have to be able to be open to be able to convey a sense of honesty, care, and sympathy as they move through their hospitalization. But I think that when we open ourselves up at that deep level we accept that we carry them with us. I feel that way about this one particular patient. I carry them with me.
Needless to say I had a lot going on, but I never for one moment felt alone. I am blessed to have a wonderful support system in my personal life, but also supervisors who support me in my endeavors through this dense learning process called internship. My support system is so important to me. I can honestly say that after such a crazy week I had three times the laughter that I had to tears or fear. I am so thankful to have them through this amazing experience.
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Dec 1, 2015 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello there! I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
My Thanksgiving was filled to the brim with family time, pie, and turkey… so much turkey! Besides the overwhelming amount of food I also got to spend the entire week answering the ever-present question… “so what exactly is music therapy?” Everyone from my in-laws, to my great aunt and even my grandmother were asking me this recurring question.
As music therapists, students, and interns I think we eventually figure out how to answer that question based upon who were speaking to whether that’s straight to the point for our older relatives who are hard of hearing, to explaining the clinically based efficacy of music therapy to the doctor of the family, who honestly wants to know.
This week it became clearer to me how important advocacy is as a music therapist everywhere you go because we are a small profession. After I have explained what I do simply as “working to achieve non-musical goals with and through music” again and again and again over the years, my family has begun to remember it and repeat it when asked themselves.
Even now, after only five years much of my family have already become advocates for music therapy which makes me incredibly proud. That goes to show family is not only within your reach to advocate to, but when its all said and done, are usually the ones in your corner.
Have a great week!
-AH
by Alisabeth Hopper | Nov 25, 2015 | Intern's Corner, MTC
Hello Again!
This week I had the amazing and nerve-wrecking opportunity to go out on my own and do a classroom outreach presentation at a local preschool. I went to six classes throughout the course of the day, presenting multiple instruments and providing the opportunity to participate in a musical experience.
When Rachel and Katey introduced the idea to me, I was nervous but I knew that I could do it and that it would be a great experience so I hesitantly agreed. I had plenty of time to prep my music and run it by both supervisors before heading out on my first event completely solo. When I sat in front of the first classroom I was very nervous but my nerves quickly subsided as my focus set in and before I knew it, four hours had passed and the event was over.
I enjoyed the event, but what was most amazing was the confidence I felt going into my regularly scheduled sessions and groups afterward. Doing a preschool presentation completely solo was the most affirming experience I have had thus far. In the following days I found myself making more decisions and giving more input in sessions than I usually would. For instance:
We began our Listen & Learn for Little Ones classes again this week and with it being the first class back we would usually expect little participation and much hesitance on the part of the “little ones”, but not this week! Everyone was very excited, so excited in fact that when we began playing the ukulele song for a cool down almost everyone surrounded Katey reaching for the ukulele wanting so desperately to play. Before Tuesday I would have continued to allow my supervisor to lead without question, but with my new found confidence I decided to take the initiative to go get a second ukulele to assist her. This decision proved very helpful after all and now I am very glad that I stepped outside of my comfort zone.
So, my words of wisdom for other interns out there are: if you’re asked to do something new and it scares you — do it anyway! Seek guidance when appropriate but don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone, because you never know when you will have a turning point.
Be brave, my fellow interns, and have a wonderful week!
-AH
