.jpg)
At some point, the time will come for all of us when we are no longer students or interns, but really and truly music therapists!
After 3.5 years of studying, many hours of internship and writing of seminar papers, this spring was also the time for me to change my perspective from (often observing) intern into being a graduated music therapist and stating work life with everything that goes with it - responsibility, own therapy planning, ...! Exiting!!
I also moved from one end of Germany, the tranquil Heidelberg in southern Germany to the far north to Bad Segeberg near Hamburg. :)
Here I was welcomed with open arms by my new colleagues and I have now been working in the neurological center of the Segeberger Kliniken since June, primarily treating people with Parkinson's disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis.
What can I say…I really enjoy working in the field of neurology! In addition to the methods of neurological music therapy (NMT) according to Thaut, I get the chance to be very creative in the individual and group therapies, making my intervention fitting to the various and very individual expressions of my clients symptoms. Every day I am amazed at what rhythm and melody can trigger in my clients (who often describe themselves as "absolutely non-musical"). I enjoy celebrating small successes with them and supporting them on their physical and psychological road to recovery. Next summer, I really want to do the "official" NMT training and continue my education in this field!
Here in Bad Segeberg, we work in a very international team and enrich each other with intervention ideas and good humor. We are also very much appreciated by the doctors, which is not yet the case everywhere in Germany. The profession of "music therapist" is not yet protected here, which means that people with other professions (e.g. music teachers, etc.) who have not studied music therapy often fill these positions. The German Music Therapy Society (DMtG) has been fighting for years to change this in order to ensure that patients are cared for by qualified professionals.
The Segeberger Kliniken already attach great importance to this and support an evidence based practice by a qualified team of music therapists. So if you would like to do an internship with us: come and visit us!
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next, to learning more about NMT and to making more interesting and enriching experiences with my clients and the team...I think, it won't be boring in any case! :)
To finish, a little side note: if you are interested in participating in a renowned international, English-language Master's program in music therapy in Germany, you can find more information here: https://www.srh-hochschule-heidelberg.de/en/master/music-therapy/ .
Written by Susanne Gruss
Assembly of Students Delegate for Europe
