Self-care for Music Therapists:
According to the World health organization:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
A lot of these terms are thrown around and it’s easy to look at “burn-out” and “self-care” as these concepts that exist in a vacuum. But we are students, interns, and professionals in music therapy- who take our job or profession (avocation) as our livelihood and as a way to share our talents and skills with other people. When burn out occurs it can often feel like the thing we care about has turned against us. How can we prevent ourselves from falling deeper into the rabbit hole? The answer may be self-care. I do want to preface this blog post by stating that self-care is not a panacea for burnout or other problems in our lives (they may exist on a fundamentally systematic level), but what it does is provide a safe environment for us to refresh and take care of ourselves in areas that we may have ignored in the meantime. Usually self-care will be effective when you find yourself in a situation where you have not allowed yourself to prioritize your wants and needs and so through an almost learned helplessness, the quality of your life takes a toll. It can also be said that if you are already prioritizing your needs and listening to what your body is telling you (already practicing self-care) you are less likely to fall into burnout.
As music therapists, interns, and students we experience a variety of different populations (who all have different needs) and methods (which all require different skills and attention) through which we enact music therapy. Because of this, sometimes work can bleed over into our personal time and sometimes it is hard to detach ourselves from the difficulties we may have faced throughout the day. There may be thoughts about how self-care should be a “treat yourself” type activity as seen in Parks and Recreation.
Treat Yo Self | Parks and Recreation
While others might say that self-care isn’t about that at all, it’s about eating healthy and going for a walk. I feel like the answer may be more nuanced than that. It could be one of these things or all of them. The important thing to remember is that if the reason why you’re feeling burnt out is because you haven’t been taking care of yourself, then it is important to evaluate how you can support yourself in the ways you need.
During our self-care symposium (which is a time during the week where we get together to learn about a topic related to music therapy), we were given a sheet of paper to fill in the ways we might practice self-care within certain aspects of our life. I’ll go through each aspect and give an example and if it helps, I invite you to do the same. The template can be found here: http://au.professionals.reachout.com/developing-a-self-care-plan if you’d like to do one for yourself!
Physical: Tune in with your body. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Sometimes when we are hungry it can affect our mood and the way we interact with our clients and/or coworkers. Studies have shown that even a small amount of dehydration can affect brain functionality (Zhang Et. Al 2019). What are some things that would help you feel better? You could eat something healthy if your body is feeling tired or sore. Or you could eat something that tastes good to take care of your emotional health. Remember that tuning in with your body and being aware of what you need will help you honor feelings you may have been having difficulty with in the moment. During internship it can be hard to get a moment to slow down long enough to even grab a bite to eat. But it is important to tune in and see what your body needs. A lot of these self-care activities may also overlap with each other. It’s also good to remember that doing an activity like going for a walk may also help with other aspects such as your emotional health.
A musical option is drumming: Go to a hand drum class, local drum circle or sit down at a drum set. Moving your body can help you regulate and expend restless or tired energy.
Psychological: We can often carry a lot of stress and worry with us in our lives without even being aware of it. Both good and bad things from personal events to work projects can often bleed into our lives if we are unable to create healthy boundaries. Going to therapy is a great way to practice self-care for your psychological health. Another option is journaling. Journaling can be a great way to reflect upon stressful things in your life in a safe environment. It could be possible that looking back at events can help you prepare yourself for future events. Another option is to practice mindfulness: By grounding yourself in the present moment – you allow yourself to just exist. It’s not that your worries will go away, but it can sometimes create that perspective shift you need to find equilibrium in yourself again. One of my favorite mindfulness exercises is chocolate meditation (or if you have another favorite sweet or food – any food can work but foods that melt are especially helpful for this one).
Try it out!
Link to chocolate meditation:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-in-frantic-world/201109/the-chocolate-meditation (Penman, D 2011).
Musically you can write a song or after tuning in with how you are feeling, play a song that matches your mood at the time. By doing this, you are honoring your thoughts and emotions and giving yourself the space and time to feel them.
Emotion: There is a bit of overlap between the psychological and emotional states of self-care, however I will say that tuning in with your emotions is an important practice. When you let your emotions go unfelt or unacknowledged, you may find yourself feeling resentful or mad and acting out without even realizing it. Somatic emotion or emotions existing as physical sensations can be an effective way to help us “tune in” to our emotions. When we are taught about emotions, often it can just be from a place of outward appearances: a smile means someone is happy, crying means someone is sad. But to really understand our own emotions, we must tune in to how our body is feeling. We may feel or carry sadness as pressure in our chest or anxiousness as tension in our shoulders. We may feel happiness in our arms or anger in our tightened fists. By tuning in and reacting with an activity such as getting a massage or engaging in breathwork, this will allow yourself to acknowledge and cope with your feelings.
Musically, you can sing/play a song you really enjoy or again play a song that matches your feelings at the time.
Spiritual: Spirituality may look different from person to person based on their experiences and what kind of spirituality they grew up with. If you’ve found yourself not having the time to engage in it – give yourself the opportunity to again or perhaps look at it from a different perspective. How is your spirituality addressing your current needs? This could look like going to a service, meditating, or journaling. It could look like having a discussion with your friends or family about it. Spirituality is a means of helping us feel connected – if you are feeling disconnected, sometimes tapping into that can realign ourselves when we are feeling dysregulated.
Musically, you could engage in music at a service or sing spiritual songs at home in the shower or when you drive that help you tune in with your spirituality.
Relationships: Are there relationships with others that we may have been ignoring or avoiding due to work? Consider your interaction style as well as the way that you feel refreshed. Are you an introvert (someone who feels refreshed after being alone or with people they feel comfortable around)? Are you an extrovert (someone who feels refreshed after spending time out socializing and can be around and meet new people)? Are you somewhere in between (ambivert)? Considering which of these we are can help us seek out the interaction that refreshes us and fills our cup when we are feeling like we’re running on empty. Relationships are foundational to us as human beings. Send that friend or family member a message. Write a letter. Go get coffee with a friend. Have a board game night. Interacting with people we care about unrelated to our work can help us refocus and recenter our minds.
Musically, you could ask a couple friends to jam with you or start a playlist with a couple friends.
Workplace: Practicing self-care in the workplace is very important to prevent and heal burnout. Consider your workflow, are you giving yourself an adequate break in between work sessions to breathe? Perhaps you can set a timer for yourself for two minutes or take a quick walk outside to reset your brain. Check in with yourself, how are you feeling? Write a to-do list. At our company’s annual retreat, the theme was “slowing down to speed up.” This involved self-reflection and checking in with ourselves to see where we were at the current moment. It also involved celebrating the successes we experienced throughout the year. We also reflected on our strengths and what we brought to the team. Mostly, slowing down puts things into perspective and allows us to approach a possibly difficult or overwhelming task with grace and tact. We are not always the most efficient as human beings, but with compassion and understanding, we can be very effective at the things we want to achieve.
Musically: Go to Karaoke with your coworkers (if people are available and it’s a typical thing that happens in the office). Or even take a break to talk about your coworkers’ interest in music (Favorite singers/band? Favorite songs?)
To review: These are the aspects of self-care we looked at today. But that doesn’t mean these are the only possible sectors of our lives we can practice self-care in. They are a good starting point for reflection.
- Physical
- Psychological
- Emotional
- Relationship
- Workplace
I feel the most important thing to remember is to be kind with yourself through this process. There are many reasons why we become burnt out or start to feel the effects of exhaustion, however working back through it starts with tuning in to our needs and allowing ourselves the time and space to honor those feelings.
Take care of yourselves
Treat yourself
And move forward with kindness.
Best,
Eric Amparo, Music Therapy Intern
Sources:
Developing a self care plan .
http://au.professionals.reachout.com/developing-a-self-care-plan
Penman, D. (2011, September 11). Retrieved August 10, 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-in-frantic-world/201109/the-chocolate-meditation.
Treat Yo self. YouTube. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved July 27, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSjM5B3QNlw.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Burn-out an “Occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
Zhang N, Du SM, Zhang JF, Ma GS. Effects of Dehydration and Rehydration on Cognitive Performance and Mood among Male College Students in Cangzhou, China: A Self-Controlled Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 May 29;16(11):1891. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16111891. PMID: 31146326; PMCID: PMC6603652.