A Dream Come to Fruition...

I am starting a new journey today. If you have been following me since my blog birth, you may remember a post when I was questioning if my dream would ever come true.

In September of LAST YEAR y'all, I proposed a full-time music therapy position at the hospital I was working at in multi-faceted ways. (That has been one year ago?!?!) I was supposed to hear back a yay/nay vote by the end of May. And then the first week of June. And then by the end of June. And then the first week of July. And then....*crickets.* 

I had truly given up every ounce of hope. I was applying for any and all music therapy jobs in the area, and was interviewing left and right. I had a really good interview at a great part-time music therapy job and I had a really good feeling about a potential job offer. So I finally decided, "This is it. I am going to tell the hospital that it's literally Now or GOODBYE." I sent a curt email explaining that I couldn't wait around because this was my future, my well-being, and my livelihood. You see, if the position wasn't going to granted full-time, it was going to disappear altogether because the funding source had run its course. So this was potentially going to be a huge income loss for me...and HELLO doesn't anyone else care about me besides ME?!

It turns out that people do care. And they were trying. I just couldn't see what was going on behind closed doors. The day after I sent the email, I DID receive the job offer for the interview I had good feelings about. Something in my gut told me not to accept right away...I had to think about this...after all, I would still be only part-time and wouldn't have benefits. It wasn't what I *really* dreamed of, but I could make good things happen there. 

And then I checked my work email. I basically had an email in my inbox from the hospital admins that said, "Please don't accept any other job offer. This is happening. You have a full-time job with benefits!"

I didn't really believe it. I closed the email and took the day to process. And then told my husband in a really weird, "Oh yeah, I got two job offers today...what's up with you?" sort of way. Once I realized that I had to actually turn down one of these offers, I did what all sane adults do: I called my mom. And then my BFF.

We weighed the pros and cons of each job. 

PROS: The part-time job has great pay, flexible hours, and summers off (I LOVE SUMMERS OFF). The full-time job has stability, benefits, and paid-time off (Real adulty stuff). 

CONS: The part-time job has summers off (goodbye money) and no benefits. The full-time job is brand new...I would have to work hard for future funding.

Why was I being so stubborn about finally accepting the hospital position I had dreamed of? I guess I felt unappreciated. It had taken a year of everyone dragging their feet before deciding I was worth keeping around and my pride felt a little worn. I had given up hope and really seemed to lose my spark for a while. Plus...the part-time job sounded fun and brand new. But I had to open my eyes and remember my dream: I wanted to be full-time with THEM BENNY'S Y'ALL at the hospital. I had done so much to prove myself and they had finally seen that. So naturally with my excitement came the awkward "now I have to send a job rejection email" realization that gave me too much anxiety. And then the double awkward "now I have to counter this salary offer because I think that's what adults do" anxiety. 

I sent the respectful email unfortunately rejecting the part-time gig, and I countered salaries and used my big girl voice. It's all part of the game of life. At the end of the day, it isn't personal--it's business.

And it all led up to TODAY. My first day as a FULL-TIME MUSIC THERAPIST AT A HOSPITAL.

I have my own office (It's literally a closet with no windows but IT'S FINE). These really awesome fliers that Public Relations made with my face on them (weird).  A super cool and supportive supervisor. And renewed excitement in my music therapy career and future!

I have included some snaps from my actual proposal that I used a whole year ago.

I used Google Slides because it's super easy and wonderful. I also had a hard-copy of the proposal printed on shiny paper and bound at Office Depot. Highly recommend. I nerd out about fancy shiny things.

Mallory Baker rules for taking my headshots. I look like a music therapist that could also kick some ass.

It's always good to explain the textbook definition of a commonly misunderstood profession. Music therapy isn't just entertainment and leisure. There is a clinical treatment plan for each individual patient I see. I needed to highlight that and talk about what types of goals I strive for patients to achieve. 

Here are some types of goals and objectives that I use when working with patients.

I will be the first to say that I don't understand all the fancy and technical mumbo jumbo. I'm sure there are more reasons. But until music therapy is a recognized state licensure, this is something we need to take very seriously for our ongoing profession.

I wanted to find a quote that was from the medical impression of music therapy. It's nice to have recognition of its importance from those professionals outside of our field, but that also applies to the population with whom we work.

I started to collect all kinds of data over a series of a few months in preparation for this proposal. I captured qualitative data like these kinds of positive comments- all unprompted. It was a way to help me show that patients and their families really like this service.

I really like charts. I don't know why- it's another nerdy quality of mine. But having quantitative data is just as important, because you get to show that "hey- I'm not just singing soothing songs for fun. There is meaning and evidence that this helps with relaxation." Not ALL patients will show decreased heart rate. 

This is the percentage of patients from the previous bar chart that showed decreased heart rate during music therapy sessions. More quantitative proof that there is something to say about music therapy.

I also included the three types of patients I saw the most: Palliative care, Psych, and ICU...and included a chart area for the other various referrals I received from staff alike. It shows that when music therapy is made available...staff will take advantage of this service for the hospital's patients!

All in all, I still can't believe that my dream has come to fruition. I am so thankful, happy, and grateful.

Be well. More updates to come as my journey begins.

-Lauren