Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
So, music therapy is using music to reach non-music goals with varying populations and
varying patient needs. So, music therapists work in a variety of settings. We work in
hospitals and psychiatric facilities, in early childhood development centers, in autism centers,
so there's a variety of different facilities music therapists work within and all of those
different patient populations are what we have to teach about in our curriculum. When
I came into music therapy, I was kind of just skimming the surface of music therapy and
I have always wanted to have leadership roles in whatever I do and when Dr. Walworth came
on board here, I really got fired up for music therapy and really developed the passion I
have for music therapy right now. I love my job. I love our field of music therapy. I
am very passionate about what we do and how we do it with different patients and clients
and I think that that passion shows through. I try to be as genuine as possible in the
moment when I'm teaching. And so, if there is a certain patient population that is really
difficult to work with for whatever reason, that's addressed and the difficulty is worked
through. It's not glossed over as A, B and C. So, I try to pull in as many real-world
examples as possible and connect the students to the clinicians working in the community,
doing the greatest work they can do. Dr. Walworth's class is very student-focused, so she kind
of lets us lead discussions and if the discussions not going where she wants it to go, then she
can redirect it and she can really get students fired up about the subject or the topic. Fifty
minute classes seem like they last ten and an hour and fifteen minute classes seem like
they last thirty. So, I've never had a class where I really want to leave at the end of
the class because you just want to know more. I was astonished and humbled, very humbled,
grateful that my students would take the time in their busy schedules to make this happen
and let their voices be heard. It meant a lot to me that, in the semester that I probably
had the greatest load, they were saying, "Good job! We appreciate what you're doing in the
classroom and we appreciate how you're working the music therapy program." So, it was very
touching.