Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yiqing Xiang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Yiqing, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?
It was an experience of cultural reflexivity during my music therapy internship. Cultural reflexivity is a process in which an individual understands, accepts, and adapts to cultural differences. As an international student, I experienced many cultural differences in my study, living, and work. This story mainly describes my strongest culture shock interning in a mental health behavioral hospital inpatient unit.
When I first started my internship, I have studied and lived in the U.S. for about two years, and have been able to adapt to many differences in language, social, health system, etc. However, it was challenging for me to have culture shock in understanding the patients’ backgrounds. When patients chose hip-hop music with explicit content (e.g. profanity, gun violence, sexuality, and drugs) that they were associated with, it was difficult for me to empathize with patients, especially teenagers, and best use their preferred music in my practice. For example, I was shocked that an eleven-year-old teenager liked the rap song “Love Sosa” by Chief Keef, and you can’t deny the truth that an individual’s preferred music is therapeutic for them. I didn’t feel comfortable listening to music with explicit content initially, because this type of music is forbidden in the country (China) I grew up.
After consistently seeking to peer support and reading many pieces of literature discussing how hip-hop and rap music influence/help people who have similar experiences with the artists, I’m able to be more open-minded and flexible, learning more about my culture and the patients’ culture. The reflection process changed me personally and especially professionally.
Yiqing, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Yiqing, Xiang, a board-certified music therapist, and a neurologic music therapist. I joined Infinity Music Therapy Services in Southington, CT, as a staff music therapist in February 2022. After receiving my bachelor’s degree of Arts in classical piano performance with a minor in collaborative piano in China, I completed my master’s degree in music therapy at Temple University. I was certified through the Certification Board for Music Therapists, then I trained in Neurologic Music Therapy through The Robert F. Unkefer Academy.
I have worked with a variety of ages and abilities, including Autism, developmental disabilities, senior living, neurologic disorders, teenagers with emotional and behavioral disorders, and adults with emotional disorders, psychosis, and substance abuse. In my practice, I integrated music therapy with mental health approaches such as resources-oriented, Trauma-Informed Care, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
My primary instrument is piano, and I love using guitar and drums in music therapy sessions. I also love to explore a broad music genre with the clients: electronic dance music, classical, hip-hop, rap, jazz, etc.
What brought Yiqing to Music Therapy?
“Music can have different meanings for each person. To me, music describes who I am and how I feel more than verbal language or words can. Since studying and practicing music therapy, I have consistently witnessed people showing their potential in music and how they transferred music to finding meaning in their life. I hope to help more people express themselves with music, improve their skills and quality of life through music, and build their options of using music as a resource in their life.”
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Unlearn Fear of Failing Even though I had 200 hours of practicum before my internship, I encountered greater culture shock at the beginning of my music therapy internship. Culture shock is experiencing negative feelings when an individual processes cultural differences, such as being unconfident, overwhelmed, and anxious. Working with adolescents and their preferred music with explicit music at that time brought me many cultural differences and culture shock. I worked with adolescents in the inpatient unit, and many like drill music, which I have never really listened to, and there’s lots of slangs and street language I didn’t know. For example, when an adolescent chose a rap song with explicit content publically discussing sexuality, I felt very uncomfortable listening to the song and didn’t know how to process the song.
I often asked myself if I was not doing good enough, and I almost had imposter syndrome. I even avoided talking about explicit music with teenagers when I was not fully prepared. I felt like it was my fault for not understanding the client’s preferred music. As a trained music therapy intern then, I was aware of how therapeutic and how much this music meant to the clients, but there was fear holding me back from openly discussing it with them. After constantly seeking peer support, supervision, and reading literature. I learned that people who spoke English as their first language also can’t understand rap music. I decided to reflect on what made me uncomfortable and rebuild rapport with the clients I work with by listening to their stories.
It has been very influential in stepping into their world and listening to what they want to listen to. I took this as an opportunity to educate myself. I noticed that I initially felt uncomfortable because I came from a cultural environment where explicit music and content were not allowed. More importantly, music therapy provided the clients a platform to identify the impact of explicit content by verbally processing potential triggers and discussing corresponding coping strategies. They also found that this content resonated with their personal lives and provided them with an emotional outlet.
I encourage everyone who wants to succeed or seeks personal and professional growth; to reflect on what makes you uncomfortable and walk out of your comfort zone! Be authentic with your clients; open your ears and heart and listen to their stories. Embrace the differences between you and your client.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I believe connections play a vital role in many ways of succeeding in my career. First, connecting with colleagues outside your company can help you understand what types of jobs people in the same industry are doing. Sometimes you will be surprised and find out that they work in various fields, and you will get more information than you do in your work. For example, the working population of our music therapy is very broad, there are medical centers, hospitals, nursing homes, public schools, day programs, etc. Second, building more connections can also help your job-hunting process. For example, when I was applying for my current job, my supervisor recommended me to other music therapists he knew. Perhaps building connections is not something you will learn from your school, but it is definitely helpful for your professional growth.