Looking Beyond the Familiar
A glimpse of what is possible:
I wanted to respond to Michele Forinash's contribution to 'Voices' -
'Looking beyond the familiar'.
As part of the team of people who were involved in organising the 10th World Congress, it was indeed our vision that this meeting could offer the potential for us all to open up our minds and hearts to new and different ways of practising, research and teaching music therapy. The many responses that we have had following the 10th World Congress have outlined this as being central to the success of the event - and I am moved to read this in Michelle's contribution.
In many ways, the way that we all adopted of being together at the Oxford Congress provided a 'glimpse of what is possible' within the current milieu of both national and international music therapy. We must pledge that these experiences of tolerance and respect, the reality that we lived together during those days continues as we all move back into our individual work and lives.
Congresses come and congresses go - if the Oxford Congress really offered a new way of being together - let's not lose sight of it. Personally, I am excited about the future of music therapy; I look to a new 'familiar' - of constantly 'moving beyond our comfort zone' and embracing new opportunities and challenges! -- With love Nigel Hartley
About Hartley, Nigel
Biography
Chairperson of the 10th World Congress of Music Therapy and also of the British Society of Music Therapy. He works at Sir Michael Sobell House, a Hospice which is part of the Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, and at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London where he is involved with the training of students.
I am excited to see this discussion and think that experiential training may be the single most important means of training at internship. I have found that doing this right on-site provides a means for enriched, deep learning. My administrators support this entirely and have actually incorporated something similar within their department of social work! Beyond students watching me work with patients and/or being observed, actually having 2 hours a week to 'do'--as in participate in an experience they will later watch me lead, or they will later try leading, expedites the learning in countless ways.
Experiential learning to me as a music therapist, means that I have ventured to go where I invite my students or patients to go... understanding how a music therapy process feels is critical. At internship each Monday morning, we gather and work together, training experientially-our experiential time might include sharing warm up songs-and receiving and giving feedback in a REAL way ("that key is too high for you..." "it feels too fast--I did not feel greeted..." 'great inviting melody...") or creating a music-visualization program and trying it out to see if it might resonate with a particular theme for one of the interns. It is really important in this kind of training for me as a supervisor to maintain boundaries...this is not therapy for the interns, but a great means of trying out an activity, or going into their own music process for themselves before venturing into it with patients. It is not just 'doing an activity' but looking at how the training therapist designed it-and what is significant about it to that therapist. I think it prevents burnout, if we are experientially in it-and willing to risk and try it for ourselves and amongst one another.
I am really happy to have started this discussion that is focusing on looking beyond the familiar. I have so many memories and so much carry over from the World Congress this past summer that I am still am getting "warmth and inspiration" from that week even as we head into a cold fall here in New England in the US.
I have several thoughts about Jenny Branson's response. First that as an educator I am always aware of how "subjective" my teaching and grading are. It is interesting that as I teach I try to figure out where each student is and what he or she needs to do to take the necessary steps forward or as Jenny put it, in what area does a student need to stretch or grow. What makes that challenging is that each student needs to take different steps in order to move forward. One may need to take more risks and share more authentically both in music and in words, while another may need to learn to listen and let others take the lead. One may need to be challenged academically to think critically while another may need to learn to be more responsive in music making. Thus my teaching has to be flexible and I always have to be aware of my own biases and blocks that interfere with my ability to be present with my students.
This need for a self-reflexive stance takes me back to my original column as it is only by continually challenging myself to experience new ideas, although sometimes uncomfortable, that I continue to grow and develop! If I ever dare stop this I am sure to become as rusty and stuck as the Tin Man in the US movie The Wizard of Oz.
So rest assured that many other music therapists are continuing to examine their own comfort zones and challenging themselves to continue to grow, stretch, reach, and learn!
As a postscript, let me also say that one of my graduate students is writing a thesis on performance anxiety as experienced by music therapy students in sessions. I think it is a very important topic for our field.
Growing, reaching, stretching, learning
In her recent column, "Looking Beyond the Familiar" (http://voices.no/?q=fortnightly-columns/2002-looking-beyond-familiar), Michele Forinash commented on a topic that touches every music therapist (perhaps every person) at some point in her or his career. It is easy to remain within one's own comfort zone and work within those safe boundaries, as opposed to reaching out, stretching, and exploring.
Music therapy, as an educational pursuit as well as in practice, has encouraged and pushed me to look far beyond the familiar in multiple aspects of my life. I have made every effort to use the opportunities available to me through music therapy to learn and grow as a budding music therapist as well as an individual. In my work as a music therapy equivalency student, I have found myself pushed academically, personally, and musically.
As a music therapy student, I have been exposed to a new world of knowledge and interaction. The theories and techniques that I have learned and learned to utilize have pushed me to find and enjoy new ways of interacting within myself and with others. Music therapy has given me alternative ways of communicating and relating with other persons, and also provided me with the means to communicate more effectively.
The academic work has challenged me in ways different from the standard pen-and-paper work that makes up the bulk of undergraduate courses. Although it has been trying at times, I have truly enjoyed "learning by doing!" It has been my experience that the grading and instruction of much music therapy training is more subjective, as opposed to the objective format of most academic pursuits. As a self-professed perfectionist and "box-filler," I have been forced to relinquish some aspects of my pursuit of perfection and to eliminate the box altogether. In the past, instructors provided a format or space to fill, and I filled it accordingly. In my music therapy work, I feel I am given a goal and myriad paths to reach it. Not knowing for certain the "right" answer can be frustrating, until I remind myself that there might be more than one way to reach the goal, and that there may be no one that is better than the others.
As a recipient of music therapy through a training group as well as my own personal music therapist, I have been able to accomplish much growth as an individual. I feel that one should know oneself before attempting to know and help others; my work in music therapy has enabled me to look closely at myself, my work, and my goals and to put them all in perspective regarding my future work as a therapist. Self-knowledge has led me to understand others more fully. I have grown past the familiar ways of viewing myself and my interactions with others and into a new and more informed way of working and living.
Some of the most profound work I have done has been in addressing performance anxiety issues. There have been times when it was extremely difficult for me to work with my clients, making the sessions unproductive at best. I have been learning to view my work and music as a gift to be shared, rather than a performance that will be critiqued. Shifting my attitude and perception in this way has helped my musical growth tremendously. The anxiety still exists, but work on it is much different now than in the past.
Growing and exploring are rarely easily accomplished, but I feel that the work is nearly always worthwhile. I have benefited tremendously from my growth and exploration as a music therapy student, and I truly hope that my work will continue throughout my life.