What Does Therapy Have to Do with Jazz Piano Lessons?

My hobby, my main hobby, is jazz piano. I love jazz, and I enjoy expressing myself through jazz piano. Unfortunately, my musical IQ is not at the genius level. In fact, it is far below it. And at times, I find the lessons I am learning to be difficult, tedious, or even confusing. During some lessons, my teacher will demonstrate a chord voicing. I see her fingers on the keys, but I don't really comprehend what chord structure she is demonstrating. To her it is simple. For me, it sometimes makes me feel that I need to be in a remedial piano class.

So what has that to do with therapy? Everything. Learning something which is complex and complicated is difficult. It takes energy. It takes perserverence. There are times when we feel we are just not capable of learning it, and other times when we are sure that "other people" could learn it much more quickly. There are times when we are tempted to think that the way we used to do things was good enough, and we wonder why we are going through this grief of learning something a new way when it is so frustrating.

The answer is that there are points, when after considerable mountain climbing, we are able to look back over the terrain that we have covered, and we see just how far we have come. It is then that we realize that it has been worth it. But during the climb, we often wonder why we are doing it--why we are putting ourselves through it.

Taking lessons is in itself a lesson in humility. One of my graduate professors called the rejections he received on articles submitted for publication his way of learning humility. Taking flying lessons, and now taking the jazz piano lessons, is my way of learning and/or remembering what it must be like for my patients at times. I am presenting to them ideas and concepts as if they are simple and can be comprehended quickly. However, sometimes the brain goes into a "fog," and the concepts which seem simple to the teacher can be incomprehensible at the moment for the student. Perhaps all teachers need to be students at times, and need to try learning something really difficult. I know that every time I leave one of my jazz piano lessons, I have greater respect and empathy for what my patients are going through--not just in their daily lives but in undergoing the process of therapy itself.