In my time as music therapy internship director at UCP, I have supervised eight interns. All have been fantastic and unique in their own ways.

I love that my interns share my passion for music therapy and for the children, and always bring a fresh, creative approach to treatment. However, the part I hate most about having interns is saying goodbye to them after building a special connection.

That time will come again for me tomorrow as I say goodbye to my intern, Mahleah Benson, and send her off into the wonderful world of the working music therapist! She is off to embark on adventures in Kansas and I look forward to hearing wonderful things about the work she will do there.

My personal feelings of sadness in saying goodbye to my interns reminds me how sensitive we need to be to our clients (in this case the children). Termination is an extremely important, sometimes overlooked, aspect of our jobs. Here are some creative things we’ve done to address termination for the children when interns leave…

– (Mahleah’s idea!) Visual board depicting the number of sessions (or days) left before the intern leaves.

– (My idea!) Map showing the route Mahleah will drive from Florida allllll the way to Kansas. The kids loved it and could not believe she’ll be driving 30 hours in her car to get home!

– And of course what is a preschool goodbye without some homemade cards?

What are some things YOU have done to address termination with your clients?