Last week, I, along with two of my classmates, ventured off to The Netherlands for our clinical placements at Bedburg Hau. Bedburg Hau is a beautiful clinic in Germany tailored to the mental well being of its patients, boasting five music therapists and many more creative therapists. I was fortunate enough to observe two creative therapists: one music therapist and one drama therapist. Not only was I not expecting to travel to Holland, but I had not anticipated to enter a facility so well equipped for various creative therapies that I myself considered learning German and moving there. Not a single fluorescent light, white coat, blank wall, or barred window was to be seen. Instead, inviting murals, carpeted rooms, soft light, huge open windows, and smiling creative therapists generated a therapeutic atmosphere. It was truly breathtaking. As if that wasn't enough, the therapists themselves were some of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I observed three sessions and two workshops overall, mostly from the music therapists.
The most significant piece of advice I took away from the therapists from observing and attending the workshops is quite simple: give music to yourself too. Music therapists spend their careers giving people tools to better themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally using music, but it can be tiring. One of my biggest fears is becoming burnt out. When I asked the music therapists what they did to keep the spark alive, I received an unanimous answer. Play music for yourself. Join a choir, a rock band, an orchestra, whatever it is that cultivated your love for music in the first place. Make sure you don't lose sight of why you are a musician: a music therapist.
In the five days that I spent observing and learning from the therapists at Bedburg Hau, I was bombarded with new ways of thinking. And what a remarkable gift to be given.
No comments:
Post a Comment