Earlier this week, I received an email from a Maven reader with an interesting question:
I was wondering, what is the greatest and hardest/disliked part of your job?
Funny enough, I have never considered this question before! Although I was able to give him an answer fairly easily, his question sparked an idea: Can I list the top 10 best and the top 10 worst parts about being a music therapist?
This week, I will list what I consider to be the top 10 best things about being a music therapist. Next week, look for my list of the top 10 worst things…
Top 10 Best Things About Being a Music Therapist
- I get to witness some incredible change in people.
- The music part often makes the therapy part kind of easy.
- I get to sing. A lot.
- More often than not, I put a smile on people’s faces and they are happy to see me.
- I get to listen to some incredibly talented musicians.
- Telling someone I am a music therapist is an almost surefire way to get a conversation started.
- The science and mystery surrounding the impact music has on us is fascinating.
- I have access to some pretty fun toys (especially of the drumming and percussion variety).
- Job flexibility—particularly as a music therapist in private practice.
- It is humbling and inspiring to be around and learn from these incredible, resilient, vulnerable, and strong people I get to work with.
Just for fun, I also asked others to share what they feel are the best and worst parts about being a music therapist. Here are their favorite parts:
- I’m only a student but in my practicum work the best thing is just seeing the clients eyes light up during a session and knowing how much they love and value everything their doing, even if they can not express it in words. – Freddy
- Best thing – knowing that the music made a difference in the life of my patients and/or their families. – Sheri
- Best is getting to use a talent and love and a skill and get paid for it. – Valerie
- Best is combining areas of passion. – JoAnn
- Best thing-giving a child a “voice” to move and work through trauma and seeing their quality of life improve. – Lauren
- Best thing- making music everyday, reaching people who were thought to be unreachable, creating. – Stacey
- Best thing: The “oh my goodness!!!” look on my client’s faces when they surprise themselves with a break through. – Amanda
- Best thing – the clients. Stacey put is so well! – Linda
Did I forget anything? Do you have something to add to the list? Let us know in the comments section below!
orcid.org/0000-0001-8665-1493
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I agree with all of those reasons!
Wow, I can’t believe you were able to narrow it down to just 10! Let’s do 100 best things! I believe strongly in the relationships that are created. Between the music and the client and the therapist there are a tremendous number of relationships that are created and they are all influencing the therapeutic moment.
@Anita It wasn’t easy! On the flip side, I’m posting a list of the “10 worst things” next week. That was a hard list to create! Guess I’m in the right profession for me 🙂 ~Kimberly
Anita…I couldn’t agree more. I value those relationships with my clients more than anything in the world. It’s cheesy to say, but they constantly remind me of how beautiful life is. I can’t get over how lucky I am to work with some of the strongest people in the world.
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 1 trackback }