During my first go-around as a music therapy internship supervisor I have been trying to develop my personal philosophy how I can best train my interns. I am sure that this approach will change as I gain experience with different types of learners, but the following is what I found has worked best, at least with my first intern.

My philosophy to training interns is a developmental one in which what I do would depend on the needs of the intern at each stage in the internship process. The balance between observing, co-leading and independently leading sessions is determined by the stage that the intern is in.

In the Learning Stage I will make the intern feel welcomed to the company through introductions and tours. Weekly schedules, addresses and maps to facilities will be provided and expectations of dress and timeliness would be clarified. The intern will shadow me and other music therapists on the team for at least 2-3 weeks and will be expected to be a full participant in the sessions. That will help them learn the characteristics of the clients and start building a good rapport. The intern and I will meet for 7-10 hours during the first few weeks to talk about planning, implementation and evaluation of interventions, administrative duties, and to make sure the intern is stable physically, emotionally and mentally as the beginning of an internship can certainly be overwhelming. These meetings will take place after each session throughout the week and at three set times on Monday afternoons, Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons.

In the Development Stage the intern will move from observing to co-leading, from learning by watching to learning by doing. They will be taking over the caseload gradually with the decision of which sessions to take over being made by the intern and supervisor. The intern and I will still be meeting for about 7-10 hours per week, but the focus of the meetings will be different from the previous stage. We will talk more about the nuts and bolts of music therapy such as the musical and therapeutic skills necessary to lead a successful session. Repertoire building will also be a key component. In this stage I will be involved in evaluating the session before and after its implementation. The intern will still be imitating the ideas and style of the supervisor while beginning to use their own ideas and develop their own style.

In the Maturation Stage the intern will move from co-leading to independently leading sessions. The intern and the supervisor will meet about 3-5 hours a week depending on the needs of the intern. At the beginning of this stage I will continue to be with the intern while they are running the sessions, but my role during the session would be a participant and assistant. The intern should be developing a level of independence at this stage, and I would feel comfortable not being present with the intern as they implemented the majority of the sessions. As the intern is becoming more comfortable with running sessions and addressing client needs, we will decide on the special projects that will be done.

The Entry Level Professional Stage would be during the final 1-2 weeks of the internship. The intern would have the skills needed to be a professional music therapist in the field. The support given at this stage would be for things after the internship such as fine tuning the intern's resume and preparing the intern for job interviews. Confidence would be instilled and fears and doubts about the professional world would be addressed.

~Kyle Wilhelm, MA, MT-BC
Clinical Training Director, Music Therapy Internship Program

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