Hello and happy Wednesday!

I am both excited and sad to say that this will be my last blog post as an intern here at Toneworks! While I am definitely going to miss sharing music and fun ideas with you all, I am also so excited to continue my journey as an employee at this wonderful company! I would like to share a bit about what I’ve learned at Toneworks, beyond what I have already been able to share in the blog posts!

Every aspiring music therapist must complete a total of 1,040 clinical hours over the course of their internship, but the day to day responsibilities and learning opportunities are different for every intern. Here at Toneworks, I was lucky enough to work with four board-certified music therapists every week, seeing all different kinds of clients across the Twin Cities metro area.

For several days of my week, I observed and led in-home music therapy sessions. I had never seen an in-home session before I started my internship. Coming into a family’s home and making a therapeutic space out of a familiar space for the client was super interesting. I have always been interested in getting to know the family members of my future clients, so being able to do sessions in these clients home was a lot of fun for me! I learned so much, not only from the music therapists I was observing, but also from the family members that would participate in our sessions.

For one day in my week, I had the opportunity to observe and lead 9 different music therapy sessions, which included ages spanning from elementary students to high school students. I was able to work with so many awesome kids, all with varying levels of ability. Leading a group session is a much different experience than leading a one to one session. I had to learn how to not only build appropriate session plans for each level of ability, but also how to adjust my disposition and energy as I walked into each classroom. I learned how to constantly be flexible and ready to adapt. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful experiences that working in these classrooms gave me.

Another day of my week included working with older adults in a nursing home. These sessions were also quite different from the rest of my week. Working with older adults is such a unique, yet rewarding experience. I was able to make meaningful connections with the individuals I met with each week, learning about their lives and all that they have experienced.  One of my favorite parts of working at the nursing home, was that I got to observe the joy that comes as music brings back memories to each person.

I am so proud of the work that I was able to be a part of in my six months of being an intern at Toneworks. What I think I loved the most about my experience here, is that whether we were aiming to increase verbalization, to work on fine motor skills, to address an academic goal, or to engage in reminiscence, I got to witness that the love and excitement for music remained the same. I am thrilled and very thankful that I get to continue my career at such a vibrant company.

A million thanks to the awesome clients I was able to work with, their families, Andrea, Maureen, Kiran, and of course, to the lady in charge, Lyndie!

Thank you for reading!

Emily Knezz