Adventures and Challenges of Cologne

After getting introduced to my placement supervisor, all expectations for my week were thrown out the window! She was a very sweet and gentle music therapist, she spoke broken and English so the two of communicated in both English and Spanish. After the welcoming, I jumped in her car and we went straight into working with 2 groups at Alexandria Clinic (Psychiatric Hospital in Koln)! Day 1 was full, she showed me around the clinic and showed me the different “stations” of alcoholic abusers, drug (pills) abusers, illegal drug abusers, acute crisis patients, day clinic for people with mood disorders, dementia, etc.

              Both therapist I observed this week did a lot of talk in the therapy which is very important in the type of facility. The therapists did a lot of music listening and conversing about their current feelings. Surprisingly, I got to hear a lot of Amy Winehouse, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, the Beatles and more. This week I learned that it’s not easy for all people to identify their emotions, patients have types of mental blocks, and self-expression is really as task for some people. The therapists held time for improvisation almost in every single session and clients would have to find instruments that best identify their current emotion, and play. The groups allow the clients to feel support and security, and the groups had been together a while, the smaller groups had less cohesion, but the large groups were close and personal. Patients are referred by a doctor and depending on the severity of the client’s illness, the clinic will choose how long they must stay, 12 or 14 weeks or come daily and live at home. The age range with in the groups came as a big shock to me too! The groups really ranged from about 20- 85, they had groups for men, women, and the different stations.

              By the middle of the week all the clients had really warmed up to me, we were making up jokes and we laughed together. There were not many hard feelings and the atmosphere was very light. The improvisation became more natural for me and we interacted well with each other. The sessions were in Germen so I couldn’t understand much of it, but clients tried to translate if they wanted me to know something. This placement experience really sharpened by observation skills, reading peoples body language and facial expression. Both therapists taught me a lot about how to interact with clients, and this week showed me that you don’t always have to be a super skilled musician to be a music therapist. Talk, the client-therapist relationship, and knowing how to play an array of instruments is more valuable. I’m not dissing my education, and being proficient in an instrument can be just as valuable, but it is one of the differences I noticed between German and American music therapy.

              I was left on my own a lot of the time this week, my supervisor had a different work schedule than mine, she allowed me to ride her bike and boy did I get lost a lot! The road signs in Europe are not as noticeable and frequent as they are in the states and that’s something I’ll never get used to! But overall, Cologne is a wonderful city to tour and I was blessed to have been placed there! The cathedral is amazing and I would suggest it to anyone who is even going through Cologne, to hop off the train and take a look at it! One thing this trip will teach you is how to say goodbye. However, with every good-bye there is a new hello!