Winding up, winding down

Last Monday marked the start of a new term here at the hospital. This term is the big one for me - I started leading a full schedule (mostly) on my own. Some of the groups I am leading are ones slowly took over leading last term, and some are new ones. I am also continuing to do individual music therapy sessions with a client as part of my case study. 

Here is an overview of some of the groups and interventions I'm doing. (Some of these descriptions are taken from program plans that I've written as part of my internship that I'm implementing now.)

• Songwriting: This group focuses on using songwriting to allow participants to express themselves, to increase self-esteem, to facilitate therapeutic discussion, and to improve both self-awareness and interpersonal awareness. Participants are given the chance to learn several methods to use to write songs both as a group and individually. A lot of the stuff I use for this group comes from some awesome resources that I got at the AMTA National Conference in St. Charles last October. 
• Personal Wellness through Music: This group is designed for patients who have an interest in learning basic instrumental skills or improving their advanced skills. Participants set their own musical and wellness goals at the beginning of term and track them each week. This group will engage in discussion about the relationship between music and wellness and people's progress in each area. It will focus on frustration tolerance, communication styles, desire and level of motivation, importance of practice and repetition, setting goals for self, acknowledgement of successes and failures, and personal wellness. 
• Band: This group gives participants the opportunity to build personal and professional relationships with one another while building their musical skills.  Some goals focused on in this group are involve improving communication skills, improving social tolerance, and beginning to conquer performance anxiety.  Group members get the chance to be creative and expressive, develop healthy leisure skills, accept responsibility, and build self-esteem.
• "The Meaning Behind the Music" (Song Discussion): This group uses song discussion, or lyric analysis, to facilitate therapeutic discussion, the improvement of clients’ self-awareness and interpersonal awareness, and the identification of healthy behavior patterns. This technique involves listening to songs and discussing both the lyrics and the music, including the rhythmic, tonal, and expressive elements of the music, as well as the relationship between the two.  In addition to discussing song elements, the group will discuss the relevance of the themes and messages found within the music and the lyrics, and their relevance or meaning to each individual.
• Healthy Rhythms (drumming & stuff): This group explores the use of rhythm, improvisation, and creative expression to relieve stress, promote wellness, and develop coping skills. Group members actively engage in music making, regardless of their musical skill level.  The group explores a variety of rhythmic interventions, including cultural drumming techniques, community aspects of drum circles, group cohesion, and/or the effects of rhythms on overall health and wellness.  This group also provides a safe place for members to express themselves verbally and non-verbally, as well as to discover and create personal rhythms and styles. 

These are just a handful of the groups I'm leading. I'm also doing an engagement group, a group based on my special project (Trauma-informed MT - which I posted about earlier and will post on again soon!), a guitar group, a social skills group, a relaxation group, and choir. 

Leading groups completely has been interesting. It could definitely have gone better in some cases, but some went pretty well. I think that one thing that I definitely need to work on is my confidence and my assertiveness, which I've had to work on since the beginning and will probably continue to work on for my whole career. 

It feels like each day, I'm either scrambling to keep up and feeling flustered, or feeling super relaxed and working on stuff that won't be due for another week or two. I am pretty sure it's more about my perception than about the actual amount of work varying from day to day.

In non-internship-related accomplishments, I finished an entire tube of chapstick without losing it or running it through the wash. I'm pretty sure this is like, the second time in my life that's ever happened.

Other than that, life has been pretty average out here in Oregon. I'm torn because I want to keep exploring and meeting people and making a home for myself, but I'm nervous to do so because I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be doing in 2-3 months. Will I find a job nearby? Will I move to somewhere completely different? I don't know. I'm trying to not let that effect how I interact with people or build relationships and how fully I put myself into the present.

I get to see my family in two weeks so that's pretty exciting!

Signing off now...By the end of today I'll have finished 782 hours and have 258 left.