Our work stresses, thoughts and worries need a container to live in so that when it's time, we can pick them up. Make a small routine of "setting it aside" as you transition home each and every day. It is as important as checking your email but a small and even non-time consuming ritual can create healthy boundaries for your work in your life that will prove deeply rewarding in time.
Music therapists are prone to several mental health risk factors: as a helping professional, we are prone to compassion fatigue and burnout while doubling as professional musicians puts us at an increased risk of depression, anxiety and high rates of stress. New years are new beginnings and perhaps this is the year that you prioritize your mental health.
Read MoreThe study sought to understand how music therapy altered mood for adolescents participating in group services as well as the effect that demographics had on mood alteration, or not. The study was conducted at a large pediatric psychiatric hospital and included over 350 participants aged 12-21 in 3 different units of the hospital.
Read MoreThe idea of trauma stewardship is that we take the time to deeply reflect on our own life
experiences as well as our current environment, both personal and work, to identify where
we may not be taking care of ourselves or others effectively because of the trauma we are
bearing witness to.
We cannot be fully present with others in their pain and suffering if we are not taking care
of ourselves. We have to put our own oxygen mask on first!
Chronic sleep deprivation (both short sleep and disturbed sleep) is a common factor in 20% of serious car accidents, and in every common cause of death including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, alzheimer’s and immune dysfunction. Chronic sleep deprivation increases your risk by up to 45% for these common diseases. It is also a better predictor of developing type 2 diabetes than lack of physical activity. Inadequate sleep impairs brain functioning (memory, attention, decision-making, hand-eye coordination, calculation accuracy, logical reasoning and creativity.
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