Tell us about your job working in care? What’s your typical day/week?
What is a typical day?! I normally work 9-5 (not always though) and each day starts with a ‘huddle’, with members of all the different teams present, from carers and nurses to admin staff, sibling workers, housekeeping, and doctors. We talk about who is in-house that day, any visits going on out of house and any children we are aware of who are currently in hospital. I will find out whether any of the children in-house on that day have any appointments, are going out, or may be using the Hydrotherapy Pool at a specific time, and then make a loose plan with the carer or nurse working with them about if and when they might like to do some music. As a Music Therapist I may work with any member of the child or young person’s family - this might be 1 to 1 with the child or young person themselves or with parents, siblings or grandparents.
Music Therapists work in a child-led way, so I might be working to help a small baby relax and go to sleep, writing songs with siblings about how they are feeling about a situation, leading a group improvisation using all the wonderful instruments we have at Little Harbour, or getting involved with other activities going on in-house - from games of pool and soft play sessions to FIFA!
My role is hugely varied, and I am regularly involved in planning and delivering ‘Harbour Fest’ and our annual Memory Day, running a bereaved Dads/Male Carers walking group and making special visits to families who may be struggling at that moment. During the pandemic I started doing a lot of Zoom Music Therapy sessions. This is something that I have had to scale back on now that we are so much busier in-house, but I do offer them on a more sporadic basis if people are stuck at home for some reason, having a prolonged stay in hospital or can’t travel.
What do you enjoy most about working at CHSW and/or in care/nursing?
One of the main things I love about this job is the variety of things I get up to. I get to work with people of all age ranges with such a huge variety of needs and abilities. I love that there is the freedom to work in my own individual style and I am able to instigate and plan new ways of working. If I come up with an idea the answer is often yes, which is fantastic as a creative person!
One of the other amazing things about working here is the huge selection of musical instruments we have, and again the freedom to get what I think might benefit the babies, children and young people that come here, so we have some really interesting instruments that not many Music Therapists would have access to!
What motivated you to apply for your role?
Being a local person, I had heard of Little Harbour and the amazing work they do, and I knew a nurse who was working at Little Harbour at the time and knew how rewarding they found their work and what a nice team it was to work within. Before training as a Music Therapist, I had spent many years working in care with adults and young people with physical and learning disabilities, and always really loved the feeling of making something possible for someone, or making their situation better in some way if I could. To be able to do this combining my love of music is so rewarding.
How did you become a Music Therapist? What job were you doing before?
I have always had a love of music, whether listening or playing it. I took up the violin at primary school and have played it ever since. I got involved with the local folk music scene when I was around 15, and since then have played and written a lot of my own music and have been lucky enough to do lots of exciting gigs and projects - visiting different countries around the world playing music! I went to University in Newcastle Upon Tyne to study Folk and Traditional Music, before then moving back to Cornwall and working with adults and young people with learning disabilities. I loved this work, it never really felt like work! I wanted to combine elements of this work with my love for and skills in music so looked into Music Therapy training. I studied a part-time master’s degree in Music Therapy for 3 years at the University of South Wales, racking up thousands of miles and hours going to Wales once a week whilst still working in care. I qualified in 2017 and was lucky enough to go straight into working as a Music Therapist in a dementia care home in Falmouth, as well as working in 2 mainstream primary schools.
What would you say are the skills you need to do your job? Have you learnt any new skills since being in post?
It is obviously important to be a musical person with the ability to support others and enable them to access music. One of the most important skills is to listen - actively listening, observing and allowing time when working with people. The ability to play a supporting instrument, such as piano or guitar-type instruments, enables you to support the person you are working with whilst still allowing them to lead. You need to be an empathic person who is at home working with children, young people and adults that communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Since working here I have developed skills in areas using music technology, from basic recording, to using pieces of equipment like the Soundbeam which enables babies, children and young people to play samples of instruments with even the tiniest of movements.
If you could do another job within CHSW for the day, what would it be?
It would probably have to be in the kitchen! People would probably get sick of having pasties every day … but I wouldn’t!
How does it feel to be a part of the CHSW family?
It is lovely to know I work for such a well-loved organisation which does such important work, that is so valued by the families we work with. I think we are very good at acknowledging the importance of each person’s role within the care team and seeing them all as equally important to the holistic care a family receives, whether that be Care, Admin, Housekeeping, Kitchen or the Siblings Team.
What inspires you in your working life?
The staff working across the charity whether in care, the support staff or the fundraising team, and the incredible work they all do to support the ongoing running of CHSW.
The families inspire me, they come here and deal with so much just keeping all their various plates spinning, yet often don’t see how incredible they are.
Tell us anything else you love about your role/CHSW...
Knowing how well-loved the charity is, and how much it means to those who work for CHSW or come to stay here. My favourite feeling is when you finish a day knowing you made a difference to someone else’s day and made something slightly better or more bearable.
I love seeing the reactions people have to the sound of instruments. Sometimes, even playing one note is enough for a child’s face to light up. Or the moment that a child realises that you can hear what they are doing musically, and you are responding to them - supporting or exaggerating it - and that they are in the lead ... that’s a magical feeling!
Is there anything else you want to share with us?
I run a bereavement support group called ‘Dads in the Loop’ which is a walking group for bereaved dads or male care givers. I came up with the idea for a walking group that always does the same loop of coast path near the hospice, as a way of recreating some of the elements of traditional talking therapies, such as meeting on the same day at the same time in the same place, but without the pressure of sitting around a table or opposite someone feeling they are watching your every action. At ‘Dads in the Loop’ someone could come along and just walk with us, not having to talk at all if they didn’t want to. These walks are always hugely rewarding and hearing the dads talk about their shared experiences and perhaps things they find difficult always feels so valuable. We meet around every 6 weeks as I know how fast a month can go by in our busy lives. We stop and have hot drinks and cake, which the Kitchen Team kindly provide for us, and we usually find some rocks that look out to sea to pause before starting back up the hill to the cars!
Give us 3 words to describe CHSW...
Shelter, Recuperation, Protection.