MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND WELLNESS

Journal: Musical Instruments and Wellness

Mayuko Yamamoto
Bridgewater State University
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Introduction

This paper consists of four journal entries made within a span of four weeks pertaining to

using musical instruments as a means for wellness. Each entry pertains to a one hour or more

session of playing an instrument for the sake of trying to add a wellness period and see the

importance of having a bit of time to do a hobby for the sake of enjoyment. This paper will also

connect aspects of Social Learning Theory as well as the importance of preventing burnout.

Those in the human service profession are in a high risk of burnout or compassion fatigue (Puig

et. al., 2012). This paper addresses the importance to have hobbies that lie outside of work

related spaces and how it can help with burnout.

11/21/19

Today is the first day of playing music for an hour for wellness. Though I have realized I

have time to be able to engage in a hobby, I do not choose to do so since it always feels like there

is something that I have to be doing for school. I realized that when I am stressed or doing school

work, I do use music as short moments of destressing but this is the first time in a while where I

have played music for the pure enjoyment of it and not using it as a short five minute break from

school work. At the beginning of taking the hour of playing, it was not easy to feel relaxed and

recognize that I am taking this time for my hobby. This was the first time in a while where I had

taken time for myself to do something that I enjoy since the last couple of weeks have been

bogged down by school work and other life needs. It was weird since it felt like I had to try and

focus on trying to relax and not worry about other aspects of my life that feel like need to take

priority over playing my viola. I had never thought that it could be so difficult to try and relax

and be in the moment instead of trying to plan for the future and worrying about what else I am
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‘supposed’ to be doing instead of taking the time to be able to just be with myself and do what I

love to do.

This moment has also made me realize that I cannot remember the last time I played an

instrument for a significant amount of time by myself to just enjoy it. Since I play taiko, I

thought that every Sunday was a moment I would take for my hobby since it is something I do

for pleasure. However, I realized how different it is to play in a group versus just playing by

myself. Even though I felt reluctant at the beginning of the hour to play since I felt like there

were other things that needed to be done, in the end I remembered I how much I love just being

able to play by myself since I have control over what I do. Currently with taiko, though it is a

hobby and I do get to destress from it, since we are getting ready for a big show, it has not been a

space where I feel like I can relax and enjoy when I am playing. Here is hoping that it gets easier

from here to really relax and fully enjoy the time I play my viola.

11/28/19

Today is a day that I had already planned to make sure I did not have to do any school

work or life chores and it was a lot easier to try and enjoy my time playing today. I was already

stressed because there was a last minute rehearsal that got scheduled for taiko to try and get in as

much practice as possible, so having this day to not have to worry about being better for a

performance or being graded was exactly what I needed. I played my viola for an hour and

played along with a cd for the music sheets I have. Playing with the cd is great since I have the

chance to feel like I am playing with someone without the stress of thinking that others are

judging me or coordinating a time to play with someone else, as well as agreeing on what music

to play and how many times. The last ten minutes were somewhat hard to concentrate since my

mom had come to spend time at my house since it is Thanksgiving and I realized that if I am
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playing my viola to help relax and destress, I cannot have anyone in my vision of sight. The

moment she walked in and I could see her, I could not relax and focus on playing. For this hobby

to be able to helpful for me to destress and have a moment to myself, I cannot have anyone else

in the space that I am doing so since it does the opposite effect of relaxation and enjoying my

time with music.

12/5/19

School work has been winding down so it has been easier to try and find time to play my

viola. However, there is some stress of taking time to play since I have a big concert in three

days and the director just told me and another member of the taiko group to come up with a last

minute transition for the show. So I am played after the other member left my house and it is

hard to focus when I feel that I should be working on the transition for the show since we do not

have anything solidified yet. I also have some reluctance in wanting to play since it feels like I

have to play to make sure I can make the journal entry to keep on top of this assignment. Before,

I would play when I felt like I needed to play but after playing today I realized that there are

times when I am not aware of the fact that I may or may not need a moment to be by myself and

enjoy music. I feel a little better after playing since it ended up being enjoyable but with the

stress of the show, it is hard to feel like I can give myself permission to play. I think today was a

moment where I needed to be able to play and enjoy music since the other part of my music,

which is taiko, that generally gives me enjoyment has been a cause of stress and nightmares as of

late with the concert coming closer.

Even though I was reluctant to play today, I still played through some of the music I had

already played in the previous times I picked up my viola for the hour to be able to get the ball

rolling. However, I remembered about a website that has music that is transcribed from video
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games and animes. Once I had remembered this site, my spark to wanting to play was lit. I went

through the website and found music that I can play with the viola and I really enjoyed the time I

got to play. I ended up going over an hour to play today since I had gotten so sucked into playing

the music on the website, some I had played before from high school and some that were brand

new from games that I loved. I realized that this was a moment where I did not realize I needed

this time to be able to play through music that I really enjoyed and physically feel the tension

from my body release since I am enjoying what I am doing.

Something important that I did realize today however, is I need to mix up my hobby. I

realized that the reluctance I had face at the beginning today was because I had the same music

to play as before and it did not interest me to try and play through the same playlist I had in the

two previous entries. I came to a realization that if I step away from a hobby and come back to it

that it generally feels nostalgic and warm which is what I felt when I started this assignment.

Yet, I quickly ran out of music to play and the saving grace for today was the fact that I

remembered about the music site online where there was music which I has not played in a long

time which was exciting. However, if I continue this pattern, I will keep becoming more and

more reluctant to play and take time for this activity since I do not find and joy in playing just

my viola since there is such a limitation to what I am able to play and have access to. This has

reminded me of my past self when I stopped playing more often since I would spend most of the

time trying to find music I want to play but inevitably put my viola away since there was nothing

that sparked the energy to play and became more of a feeling of doing a chore. I think for the last

journal entry, I am going to try and play a different instrument since it would still be in the realm

of my music playing hobby and see how changing the median changes my want to enjoy and be

in the moment for the hour.

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12/16/19

Today, I got to play taiko in the way I want to play and with another person who was

wanting to do the same thing that I wanted to do. I learned that there was open practice today and

decided to make the track to the practice space to be able to play some taiko without the stress of

the concert and a workshop since both are finally done. I knew there was not many people going

so I thought it would be perfect for this final entry for me since something that I was finding

stressful and was causing nightmares is now something I am using to feel like myself. I was tired

and did not want to really go especially after I had learned one of my friends who I thought was

going to go ended up deciding not to since they had a long day that was not so great. In the end

there was only me and on other person who came to this open practice which ended up being

exactly what I needed. For about four hours the other member and I practiced a song that is

difficult but fun and was coupled with checking in with each other about life. Throughout this

experience I had talked about how for me to enjoy my hobby it is important for me to be by

myself when playing an instrument. However, through this experience I learned that sometimes

when I think I need alone time with music, there are other times when it can be more meaningful

and valuable for me to be able to have that social interaction.

Final Reflection

Personal wellness is an important for counselors to be able to keep up. The aspect to be

well is so important and has been a challenge to a point where it is in the ACA’s code of ethics

for counselors to report and be aware of themselves and others of any impairments physically,

emotionally, or psychologically (ACA, 2005 as cited in Puig et. al., 2012). Through an ACA

survey done in 2010, there were 63.5% of mental health professionals who reported in the survey

they knew of a colleague who they considered as impaired (ACA, 2010 as sited in Puig et. al.,
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2012). The ACA is working on being able to better educate to prevent counselors who are in

training as well as those who are already in the field from becoming impaired as well as having

space for interventions and treatments (ACA 2010, as cited in Puig et. al., 2012). One aspect that

helps shape someone’s career path is the education that they receive. Having a structured

education setting is an important part of someone being able to start a career path and to consider

a potential occupation. As a counselor, it is important to be able to have wellness part of the

education learned whether through workshops or through classes to raise the percentage of being

able to prevent potential burnout and impairments in the future (Mitchell, Krumboltz &

Henderson, 2002, as cited in Sharf, 2013).

In Social Learning Theory, a behavioral strategy that can be used to help a client have

positive associated learning experiences is through viewing role models and the counselor can be

counted to be a role model for the client (Krumboltz, n.d., as cited in Sharf, 2013). The counselor

through showing how to deal with different career challenges becomes a role model for the client

to learn how to deal with challenges that they may face in the client’s own path (Krumboltz, n.d.,

as cited in Sharf, 2013). A cognitive strategy that Krumboltz and Mitchell describe (1996) is

pointing out inconsistencies between words and actions (as cited in Sharf, 2013). This is when a

counselor may point when a client says they must/should/ or need to do something however,

never follows through with doing the specific action. For example, a client can say that they need

to research more about a career and go on O’Net yet they use their time differently. This can also

be applied to counselors who consistently mention they need to do more self-care or better their

overall life wellness but still fails to take the time to do so. As mentioned before it is ethically a

counselor’s duty to report other colleagues who they think may be impaired in some way and are

not fit to be able to continue their duty as a counselor (ACA, 2005 as cited in Puig et. al., 2012).
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If this is the case, it should be no different where counselors should encourage and call out other

counselors to better promote wellness. This is something that is done with clients and it may be

beneficial to be able to do so as well with peers. Puig et. al. (2012) have shown through their

study that having a hobby outside of work related spaces is beneficial

Conclusion

Having a well-balanced work and personal life can be challenging. Many sacrifice their

own personal time to be able to ‘effectively’ put their best effort forward. However, in doing so

counselors are risking themselves to become unable to continue their job or even to continue

working with clients when they may not be fit to do so. There is a stigma around being treated

for mental health in overall society and it is disheartening to see that it may not be something that

is taken seriously within the world of the counselors who work in the field. Some techniques that

are given through the Social Learning Theory may be beneficial with counselors themselves

when it pertains to their own personal wellbeing and preventing burnout from the field.
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References

Sharf, Richard. (2013) Applying career development theory to counseling, sixth edition.

Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Puig, A., Baggs, A., Mixon, K., Park, Y. M., Kim, B. Y. & Lee, S. M. (2012) Relationship

between job burnout and personal wellness in mental health professionals. The American

Counseling Association, 49, 98-109.a