Things I Wish I Knew As A New Music Therapist

I’ve been a practicing music therapist for a few years now, and every once in a while I like to look back on how much I’ve grown since my early days, fresh out of internship. Hindsight is 20/20, but there are many things I wish I knew before I began my professional clinical practice.

1. You don’t have to know it all!

One of the beautiful things about life is that we are never done being formed. You will continue learning and growing as a music therapist in every phase of your career. Our clients are some of our most important teachers. The lessons you learn from them will stick with you for a long time. Even if you are not conscious of having learned an important lesson, you may realize months or years later how formative a particular client relationship or therapeutic moment was to your growth as a therapist. Also, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions!

2. You will make mistakes, and that’s OK.

If you’re afraid of making mistakes, you will never try anything new, which will stunt your growth as a therapist. Be willing to take risks (within reason, informed by good clinical judgment). Mistakes are unavoidable. They will happen. But an important mark of a good therapist is how you recover from these mistakes. Do you wallow in it and refuse to attempt a particular therapeutic technique ever again? Do you humbly accept the mistake, and make a mental note not to make it again? Do you laugh it off, using humor as a healthy coping skill? Do you acknowledge the mistake and apologize to the client when appropriate? There are many graceful ways to recover from a mistake. Practice these, because the mistakes WILL happen, and that’s OK.

3. You know more than you give yourself credit for.

Being a new professional can be scary. But you have finished a full academic program, plus over 1000 clinical hours to get to this point. You know a lot. Don’t discount any part of your training. You’ve got this.

4. Trust your instincts. They’ve been trained well.

Good instincts are a huge part of what makes a good therapist. Once you finish your internship, odds are that there won’t be a music therapist accompanying you to your sessions, constantly asking you why you made the choices you made. This is a great learning tool because it helps to form our clinical judgment. But eventually, once formed properly, much of this good judgement becomes intuitive and automatic. You will find yourself making appropriate therapeutic choices without even realizing it. Lean into this. Trust your intuition.

5. Seek peer supervision.

Peer supervision is important for a number of reasons. Seeking advice and guidance from other music therapists can help you to make better clinical decisions, discern the correct course of action in tricky ethical cases, and learn new skills and techniques. Peer supervision doesn’t always have to be formal. It can be as simple as a phone call with another music therapist, or a gathering of music therapists to share songs and seek advice, although more formal peer supervision is available and can be beneficial as well. Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it!

6. Self-care Is key!

It’s really hard to help others when you have your own unmet needs. As they say, “put on your own oxygen mask first!” No, but really. If you are anxious about something, engage your support system or seek counseling. If you feel burnt out, take time off if you are able. Get in touch with your own spirituality, and draw strength from it. Know who “your people” are, and don’t be afraid to call them, text them, or meet up with them when you need them! As musicians, it’s also important to nourish ourselves musically, so that we can continue to engage our clients with our best musical self. This can take many different forms, whether it’s taking music lessons for yourself, joining a community band/orchestra/choir, performing in musical theatre, attending a live concert, listening to your preferred music, or just practicing music you personally enjoy. Don’t skip out on your musical self-care!

7. Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries!

Boundaries are essential to stay healthy in the workplace. Most music therapists are very passionate about the work we do, so it’s extra challenging to put boundaries around it. Boundaries in a professional setting come in many forms. This includes not working after your designated working hours are over, not forming outside relationships with clients or their families, not answering work calls or emails after hours, etc. Decide on firm boundaries early in your career. It’s easier to do now than it is to backtrack later after these boundaries have already been routinely breached.

8. Learn how and when to say, “No.”

Related to the last point, if you work for an employer, you will likely asked to do any number of things that are not directly related to your role as a music therapist. Sometimes, you absolutely have to do these things. Other times, it’s not so clear whether the task is essential. In those cases, it is sometimes OK to say, “No.” It’s also OK to say, “No,” in your personal life. It is perfectly alright to ignore calls or texts when you do not have the mental or emotional bandwith to respond. It is also not your job to single-handedly solve all of the world’s problems. (I still struggle with this!) If a friend or a group you are involved with asks you to do something extra, think about it before saying yes. When you learn how to say no to the wrong things, you are more free to say, “Yes,” to the right ones!

9. Everything can be an intervention.

A few months into my career, I worried that I wasn’t making a difference for my clients, and that I wasn’t providing enough therapeutic interventions to really matter. I later realized that I was doing a whole lot more than I thought I was! When you act intentionally, every action within a session can be an intervention. Truly. Over time, I have learned to make small, intentional choices that add up to a greater therapeutic benefit. You are doing important work. It is good to examine our practice for areas of improvement, but don’t doubt that the work you are doing matters. It does.

10. You are an important part of the team.

This one seems so obvious, but was hard for me to wrap my head around as a young professional! I was the only music therapist in my team full of nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other skilled professionals. They had important expertise, but so did I! Our perspective as music therapists is unique. We get to engage with our clients in a way that other staff do not. This is important! Because of this unique perspective, your insight truly matters. Assert yourself. Advocate for your clients. Educate your team about all of the amazing things that you, as a music therapist, can do!

I wish you all the best for your careers! Never doubt that the work you do matters.