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Teachers Resources for Teachers Be a Part of Change
Teachers Resources for Teachers Be a Part of Change
| Be a Part of Change |
| Written by Dr. Marcie Zinn |
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The most salient issue here is the current culture of the arts, which only emphasizes wellness with regards to physical problems. Within this culture, those in the arts emphasize certain movement practices (biomechanical), which largely see musician's problems being a function of physiological stresses. What is often lacking, however, are the recognition that artists often need help with emotional problems, and further help with the application of the process to their participation in the arts. Artists, instructors, mentors and students are required to appear invulnerable. When a person in the arts does develop chronic pain, depression, anxiety problems or other problems that affect their participation, it is highly unlikely that the person will not admit it, or seek help, within the psychological or psychiatric community. This culture--reflected in one's unwillingness to take time off, talk to any colleagues, seek appropriate help--makes it much more difficult to deal with emotional issues. The Arts workplace emphasis on self-sacrifice, self-reliance and problems with emotional vulnerability may seem admirable, but will greatly compromize the quality of education we give to our clients. When individuals are suffering from unresolved emotional difficulties, their error rate goes up. We do not have data from the arts population, but there is a large body of data in other populations (the lack of data makes my point). The best way to tackle the problem of emotional problems may be to include emotional problems as being as important as the wellness culture that currently emphasizes the physical readiness for practice and performance. 1. "Neuromyths" is a term coined by the Society for Neuroscience. See their site, www.sfn.org for more myths (and other great information). Murray, A., Montgomery, J. E., Chang, H., Rogers, W. H., Inui, T., & Safran, D. G. (2001). Doctor discontent: A comparison of physician satisfaction in different delivery system settings—1986 and 1997. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16, 452– 459. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118978736/HTMLSTART (accessed May 6, 2009). Shanafelt, T. D., Bradley, K. A., Wipf, J. E., & Back, A. L. (2002). Burnout and self-reported patient care in an internal medicine residency program. Annals of Internal Medicine, 136, 358 –367. http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/136/5/358?ijkey=a2deea705364cf572f9dfed45eae2bdbc66968db&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha (accessed October 14, 2009). Spickard, A., Gabbe, S., & Christensen, J. (2002). Mid-career burnout in generalist and specialist physicians. JAMA, 288, 1447–1450. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/12/1447#REF-JCT10031-22 (accessed October 14, 2009). |