As of today, I have been back in the states for one week, and have spent the week resting and processing this trip. It was a lot but it was delightful and the educational opportunities were myriad. I am glad to be back where I know the language, but I am also so ready to go back. There are so many things to appreciate in Germany.
The final week in the study abroad program proved to be one of endurance and pressure, but I will do my best to give you the reader's digest. Early Monday morning, we leave our apartments in Heidelberg to get to Dusseldorf by that afternoon. We spend a few hours there learning about the creative arts therapies there and the different branches of the clinic where we would be placed. We were all divided up to go to different LVR clinics in different towns outside Dusseldorf. Casey, another student, and I headed out to our clinic about 4:30. The trip wasn't long but once we got to our apartments, that's when things started going downhill.
My room was full of dust and cobwebs. My dishes were dusty. The microwave was on the balcony for some reason. Plus, even though the clinic is titled that it is in Viersen, it is actually in an even smaller town outside it. What put me over the edge in a matter of minutes? NO WIFI. Yup. Now, I know that seems trivial, but I didn't purchase an international data plan so I had no way to contact anyone. Staying here made me shut down and sleeping was difficult and painful because the bed may as well not have been there. The mattress was solid. All of this made it VERY difficult to pull up my bootstraps, so to speak, and get through everyday with a positive attitude.
We met our music therapists on Tuesday and we went with them to a castle with vast gardens to meet an art therapist there for some team bonding. This was great to get comfortable with each other and we got to talk a lot about things outside of music therapy as well. We got to know them as people, not just music therapists.
We had fortunate opportunities to be part of music therapy sessions in acute psychiatric units and the forensics unit at that clinic. We were even able to be in groups in the most secured area of the forensics unit. These people are at their most unstable and dangerous. It was a little nerve-wracking but also amazing. I didn't want to leave. I had a few moments where music really showed itself as a thing to quickly promote a relationship between client and therapist. Johnny Cash was requested so I got to play and sing it, and I could feel the clients relax more because they were pleased and sang along. My favorite part was in the most secured area of the forensics unit. There was a gentleman who came in a couple of different times during our time there and made up his own rap (free-styled) to different instrumental tracks. It was awe-striking to watch this because I watched him go to a place in a his brain and it would just flow out. He made up four full, different raps, and you could feel that it was good for him to get something off his chest and validation for completing something. I didn't see how rap could be beneficial in a music therapy setting, but that proved me wrong. He has a talent and that is his way into music therapy. He even spoke with the music therapist about when he was going to see her again. It was really humbling to watch. This was the only time I observed some form of improvisation in my time at the clinic. Yes, the instrumental track was pre-recorded, but his words come from him in that very moment. The other sessions consisted of sing-alongs to song requests by the clients in the groups. Sometimes, the therapist would select one particular client to make a choice about a song. This pushed the client to connect more to whatever song they chose.
As for me, I learned that I need to be more flexible when it comes to my expectations and then what actually happens or is. I spent the entire week furious about my accommodations, so it was completely draining to put that away long enough to be with the music therapists and the clients to learn something. It was very difficult to not focus on getting back to Dusseldorf. Obviously, I came out the other side alive, and I will be forever grateful to our music therapists there.
Overall, that last week really showed me that reflexivity and flexibility are essential in music therapy and in life. Coping skills require them, along with healthy emotional expression, communication, and the list could continue. Plus, therapy can come from the least expected place, and people can always surprise you.
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