Preparing for Music Therapy Internship

One of the questions we get a lot from our incoming students is “How can I prepare for this internship?”

There are so many different ways to generally prepare for internship, but there’s also a couple things that are specific to our program here. If you’ve already been accepted or you’re thinking about applying, here are some helpful tips and things to consider:

1) Repertoire 

One of the biggest challenges for new interns is repertoire. This is especially important here at our internship setting because we see clients in so many different populations. This also means that the range of the "rep" is going to be more broad than if you were only working in one setting.

For example, music used in hospice sessions is going to cover more genres and decades. If we’re thinking about the potential hospice client and using preferred music or music from their young adult years, this really opens up possibilities for music within the session. For this reason, I recommend learning a few songs from each decade or genre. If you have a client who comes in and requests a certain era or genre, you already have a couple songs ready that you can pull out of your sleeve as needed. This can really make a difference in the first sessions you have with that client when you’re trying to build rapport with them. 

On the other hand, we also work with youth as young as four years old in local behavioral programs. Their music is a lot more modern and it constantly changes. In my experience, clients are always excited to share new songs they discover and that helps me stay in touch with the latest songs. 

If you’re going to start an internship with a focus in one area, make sure to check with your supervisor and see if there are any songs that are commonly used. 

 2) Make A Binder

Binders for repertoire can be so helpful, especially in hospice settings. Try to keep a running list of the songs you can do at any moment. Make sure you only include songs that you are ready to play on the spot so you don’t end up starting a song that you don’t really know. You can take that binder with you to sessions and use it as a reference. I organize mine by decade and genre. For example, I have an oldies section (20-40s), 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. When I receive a new referral, I can take the client’s age and go to the decade  that is around their young adult years and start there. We have a GoogleDrive for our team filled with lead sheets. I also recommend the OnSong app if you prefer to use an iPad. 

3) Hello/Goodbye Songs

The last thing I want to mention to "rep" is having a go-to hello and goodbye song ready. Whether you’re working with groups or individual clients, it’s helpful to have this part of the session planning ready to go. It’ll be one less thing to think about when you start session planning early in the internship. If you can memorize it, it’ll make it even better. 

4) Read the Literature 

The next thing we recommend is reading the literature. If you’re still enrolled as a student, look for peer reviewed articles on the school library website that are relevant to the setting you are planning to study. 

Before I started my internship in hospice, I tried to read as many articles as I could so I had basic knowledge of interventions, symptoms, goals, and approaches. I felt like that really helped me develop a strong foundation in the setting. If you’re looking for specific recommendations, you can email your supervisor or see if they already have a suggested reading list for you. 

5) Spanish Phrases

The Rio Grande Valley is rich in Hispanic culture. A lot of our interns find it helpful to study some medical phrases in Spanish, or words that are not commonly used in everyday conversations. If you don’t speak Spanish, I recommend starting with phrases that can be used when communicating with clients or parents like scheduling appointments, potential goals, and greetings. 

6) Documentation

Because we work in multiple settings here at RGV Music Therapy, we try to provide interns with example evaluations and progress notes for each setting. Each facility usually has their own method of documenting, but there are some chapters about documentation in music therapy textbooks that provide good foundations for documenting:

• Chapter 17 in The Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist: Documentation Strategies. 

• Chapters 4 and 5 in the Music Therapy: A Fieldwork Primer

For some students, an internship is the first time they are expected to document on their own. Reviewing this information prior to starting internship can be helpful for goal writing, data tracking, and progress notes. 

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any questions or recommendations for future interns, please comment below and share them with us. Thank you!