Music Therapy/Internship

Oh internship. I really love the kids I get to work with. They are just gems. I can hardly wait until I am running my own program however. :) Working for free 40 hours a week can only happen for so long until one gets a little antsy! But alas, I will be done soonish! But while I am still technically a student during my internship, I have decided to take advantage of lots of resources, studying, scoping out potential jobs, and also shadowing other MT's in Utah. I have so far observed the other music therapists at specialized schools like mine and then just went to Primary Children's Hospital and plan on visiting many more sites.

The other schools like my internship at Hartvigsen are run very similarly. I am currently trying to find grants and other funding opportunities to get a MT position up and running at another specialized school in American Fork. That would be amazing if I could work there next year. Amazing. The principle is on board for music therapy, she just doesn't have any funding for the position. :( And they're getting budget cuts again. Oh well, I'll keep trying! At our school we work with kids who have developmental disabilities like Autism or Cerebral Palsy, etc. They range in ages 5-22. We work on a lot of communication, range of motion, attention to task, social skills, math, and other goals with them and I love them! Music is such a great medium for them to work with. Sometimes they are disconnected from everything and it's hard to get them to respond or relate and music definitely has the power for them to connect.

I also observed at Primary Childrens Hospital because I love it there. They have two music therapists and two interns, who are my friends, doing MT there right now. The children there are amazing and really benefit from the use of music therapy in their lives, their families lives, their recovery process, or their stay there. The MTs worked with kids from ages 2-12 that day with goals of: cognitive following directions, relaxation, range of motion, emotional connection, self-esteem, assessments to see how they are doing, etc. etc. It was absolutely amazing and really gave me the desire to try and get into a hospital setting someday.

Oh I'm so excited for my career and can't wait to pass that beast of a board exam when I finish my internship!