It's January, and that means it's Social Media Advocacy Month

As you've probably surmised, from the festive badge and such, it's that time of the year again where we music therapists use the power of social media to advance the cause of music therapy in our respective states. 

The good news: it seems to be working! 

As the lovely Kat Fulton of Music Therapy Ed points out, we've been recognized in major publications (online and off), and we've even been named Persons of the Week for gosh sakes! Amazingly, nowadays we can even see characters who are music therapists in books, on television series and in movies. 

As a person who's been at this a while (ahem!), it's refreshing to meet people, tell them I'm a music therapist and have them respond with "Cool!" rather than "you're a what?" 

Dena Register (see below for her 2016 article) sees our advocacy styles as falling into three different categories. She identifies us as Connectors, Reflectors and Directors (I mean, don't we all really want to direct?). This is certainly true, and many of us do have these characteristics. But I want to propose another feature music therapists of the world possess, which is that of being Innovators. 

We've only just celebrated our 65th anniversary as an official profession. In that time, we have grown in remarkable ways. We've become an actual profession, complete with professional competencies, standards of practice, a code of ethics, board certification, journals, along with new and innovative research methods that use the arts as their basis!

We are curious, we're determined, and we work hard to find news ways to grow and extend what we already know as a field. When we're faced with our clients day after day, we are truly with them. We take our failures, and we try again, learning from our mistakes as we boldly explore new ideas and approaches. 

Yes. We are Innovators. And because of that, there is a profession called 'music therapy.' 

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And I will now step off of my soapbox and invite you to read Dena's perspective on the matter: 

Social Media Advocacy Month 2016

Dena Register, PhD, MT-BC

Certification Board for Music Therapists

Regulatory Affairs Advisor

Each New Year brings the opportunity to reflect on all that we have accomplished and to determine what is needed in the coming year to move forward. As the Regulatory Affairs (CBMT) and Government Relations (AMTA) teams reflect on the first 10 years of the State Recognition Operational Plan, we are grateful for the number of individuals that have actively engaged in the advocacy process. We have had the incredible fortune to watch groups of diverse individuals pull together, capitalize on their strengths, and create access to services for clients and families that benefit greatly from music therapy.

One of the observations we reflect on regularly is what makes an advocacy team successful. The teams that stand out are those that have 3 different kinds of participants: Connectors, Reflectors and Directors. While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, this seems to be a “triple threat” of action-oriented personalities that are able to work in tandem and move a group forward.

Building Bridges 

“Connectors” are people who are gifted at building bridges by bringing others together and recognizing complimentary skill sets in those that they know.  Connectors enjoy creating opportunities for people from diverse background and experiences to meet and interact. The role of the Connector in advocacy is to maximize the human resources available to them and to increase the network for their cause by helping interested parties get to know one another and discuss common interests. It is often the Connectors who are able to establish relationships with legislators or other decision makers that develops them into incredible advocates.

Holding Up the Mirror 

“Reflectors” are gifted at taking in information, experiences, and perceptions and—as the name implies—reflecting back the most salient points to those around them. Reflectors often have a knack for diffusing situations by indicating an understanding and empathy for someone else’s position. Reflectors also make great advocates because of their fierce loyalty to their cause. Their ability to see issues from multiple perspectives and then to communicate that to multiple audiences brings all sides of an issue to the foreground for discussion. Reflectors unite various individuals and guide the group to a vision that recognizes the complexity of all issues.

Consulting the Compass

“Directors” are the ones who are able to see the big picture of possibilities that exist beyond the current situation. They are able to assimilate the work of the “Reflectors” and the “Connectors” and navigate a course of next steps based on that information. Directors also gather additional relevant information as they move forward and constantly attend to what course corrections are necessary to get to their end goal. Those who are most successful in this role demonstrate flexibility in their thinking and actions, which allows them to accommodate to various situations that are presented and that often change without prior notice. Directors take a broad view of an issue, projecting out beyond it’s current status or challenge and using an ideal vision or end goal to guide the day-to-day steps necessary to get there.

So how about you? Are you a Connector, Reflector, or Director? Or maybe there is another description you would use? We would like to hear from you about other characteristics or personalities that you find “key” in advocacy.

Why it was hard for me to participate in this year's social media advocacy month

One of the things that doesn't get talked about enough when you're on your way to becoming a music therapist is how deflating it can be to have to define, to defend, to prove your work almost every single day for the rest of your music therapy life.

I need to admit to you (because I think it's important to say it out loud, because I truly believe that looking at the challenges means finding a way to get through them or at least come to terms with them): I am weary - bone weary - of advocating for music therapy right now. Will I still do it? Yes, probably I will. Do I still believe in what I do? Absolutely! Do I think I make a difference in my clients' lives? God, I hope so! I know they make a difference in mine. Am I still learning about music therapy? Always. 

But am I sick to death of explaining and re-explaining, and re-re-explaining what I do to people who already "know" what I do? Who incessantly belittle and demean my work (and, by extension, my clients' efforts)? Who still, after 27 years of this, see me as "the entertainment," treating me like a radio that nobody's really listening to anyway? Damn skippy! 

Today's comment: "No offense or anything, Roia, but I think having gross motor and music out at the pool is more beneficial for the guys than just listening to music with you..." (hmm, now how could that possibly be offensive to me?). This came from a co-worker who arrives in the middle of our Community Music Group, starts yelling out names (with a quick "oh, sorry, Roia"), bustling people into coats, and taking out the majority of the group to go to another activity. Nice.

I've had bosses who've said (and I'm quoting here), "Roia, I honestly don't see how what you do is any different from someone putting a CD in a CD player," interrupting my invitation to come and observe a session with "I'm afraid we're just going to have to agree to disagree, because we have different views on this." I guess getting that Master's degree was an insane waste of time, money, and effort. Oh, and probably the twenty years of paying for clinical supervision (and a whole lot of other trainings outside of music therapy), learning everything I could about disabilities and psychotherapy and figuring out ways to make sense of all of this so I can offer my clients a form of music therapy that hardly anybody else really does...that was probably a bit of overkill.

It's hard when many of your professional colleagues think that all you're doing is "playing nice music for people." It's hard to listen to support staff tell you they don't like the music you're playing and that you're not doing music therapy "right."

The bottom line here is this: if you're going to be a music therapist (and I really want you to be), it's important to love what you do and believe in what you're providing to your clients with every fiber in your body. It's important to make music, to get clinical supervision, to get your own therapy, to have an amazing support system of people who love, respect and believe in you and in the work that you do. Because you will run into these people. And you're good and likely to feel squashed sometimes.

Being a music therapist is hard work, especially when you're trying to find a way to musically sit with people who are struggling, whose lives aren't going the way they wish they would, who are in pain, who are frightened, who throw instruments at you, who scratch your face, who are disorganized, who feel powerless, who are grieving, who are dying....All of this is hard to do. But we do it, because we know - deep in our souls we know - that the experience of being together in music means something, the musical and human relationships we painstakingly develop with people who've had chronic trauma, who've been discriminated against in every way imaginable (and in many ways we don't even have a clue about) means something.

So what the heck am I saying anyway? I guess what I'm trying to say is I've advocated until I'm blue in the face. Oh, I'll advocate when someone really cares to listen. Until then, I'm keeping my focus on helping the people whose understanding of music therapy is most important to me, and that's my clients.  

It's that time again (and not a moment too soon!) - A guest post from Judy Simpson

January marks the beginning of our annual Social Media Advocacy campaign, spear headed by the incomparable Kimberly Sena Moore. This year I'm feeling a particularly strong affinity for our theme, which is exploring and honoring our unique identity as music therapists, as I'm finding myself in the distressing position of having to fight to keep a long-term music therapy position in our facility, a battle which we may be losing. 

I will be working hard over the next few days to clearly and succinctly articulate to the state decision-makers exactly what, how and why the Music Therapy Unit offers the men and women in our developmental center something they are unable to get from any other service. While I'm doing that, I'm truly grateful to Judy Simpson (who has written a guest post honoring this month) for helping me get started by so beautiful saying...

“We are…MUSIC THERAPISTS!”

Judy Simpson, MT-BC

Director of Government Relations, American Music Therapy Association

When I started my career as a music therapist in 1983, it was not uncommon for me to describe my profession by comparing it to other professions which were more well-known.  If people gave me a puzzled look after I proudly stated, “I use music to change behaviors,” I would add, “Music therapy is like physical therapy and occupational therapy, but we use music as the tool to help our patients.” Over the years as I gained more knowledge and experience, I obviously made changes and improvements to my response when asked, “What is music therapy?” My enhanced explanations took into consideration not only the audience but also growth of the profession and progress made in a variety of research and clinical practice areas. 

The best revisions to my description of music therapy, however, have grown out of government relations and advocacy work.  The need to clearly define the profession for state legislators and state agency officials as part of the AMTA and CBMT State Recognition Operational Plan (http://www.musictherapy.org/policy/stateadvocacy/) has forced a serious review of the language we use to describe music therapy.  The process of seeking legislative and regulatory recognition of the profession and national credential provides an exceptional opportunity to finally be specific about who we are and what we do as music therapists. 

For far too long we have tried to fit music therapy into a pre-existing description of professions that address similar treatment needs.  What we need to do is provide a clear, distinct, and very specific narrative of music therapy so that all stakeholders and decision-makers “get it.” Included below are a few initial examples that support our efforts in defining music therapy separate from our peers that work in other healthcare and education professions.

·        Music therapist’s qualifications are unique due to the requirements to be a professionally trained musician in addition to training and clinical experience in practical applications of biology, anatomy, psychology, and the social and behavioral sciences.

·        Music therapists actively create, apply, and manipulate various music elements through live, improvised, adapted, individualized, or recorded music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals of all ages.

·        Music therapists structure the use of both instrumental and vocal music strategies to facilitate change and to assist clients achieve functional outcomes related to health and education needs.

·        In contrast, when OTs, Audiologists, and SLPs report using music as a part of treatment, it involves specific, isolated techniques within a pre-determined protocol, using one pre-arranged aspect of music to address specific and limited issues. This differs from music therapists’ qualifications to provide interventions that utilize all music elements in real-time to address issues across multiple developmental domains concurrently.

As we “celebrate” 2014’s Social Media Advocacy Month http://musictherapystaterecognition.blogspot.com), I invite you to join us in the acknowledgement of music therapy as a unique profession.  Focused on the ultimate goal of improved state recognition with increased awareness of benefits and increased access to services, we have an exciting adventure ahead of us. Please join us on this advocacy journey as we proudly declare, “We are Music Therapists!”

About the Author: Judy Simpson is the Director of Government Relations for the American Music Therapy Association (http://www.musictherapy.org). She can be reached at simpson@musictherapy.org

 

"What's your story?" 2013 Social Media Advocacy Month

It's Social Media Advocacy Month again, and this year we're talking about connections and the stories we share about music therapy. Or, put another way, we might say we're looking at how our stories define us and then help us to connect with each other. 

Whether or not we're aware of it, we're always telling stories. Stories help us describe (among other things) what we do, who we are, what we believe, how we've come to be, who we've come to be. And stories connect (and sometimes disconnect) us to/from ourselves, to/from our history, our families, our friends, our clients, our communities, our cultures. 

For this moment, let's focus on the stories we tell ourselves. Let's consider the stories we choose and use to help us form a professional identity.

The way I understand it, our identity as music therapists is a compilation of the many stories we have about ourselves: as musicians, as people, as therapists, as family members, as community members, as service users, as learners.

In the process we consider our beliefs about music, about therapy, how we define music therapy, what we understand about health/illness, how music fits into health/illness, about our clients, our biases, what it means to help someone else, what is/isn't helpful, what is meaningful, what we embrace, what we avoid. 

And our stories evolve even further as we give thought to how we choose to present our professional selves/stories to our clients, to our places of employment, to supervisors, to potential users of our services, to curious people, to lawmakers, to our larger communities. 

All of these elements start with the stories we tell ourselves. 

To that end, I'd like to share a list of questions I put together a few years ago for a presentation I did for a self-care series at the Kardon Institute for the Arts.  My hope is the questions will help you become more aware of your own stories, how you decide which stories you'd like to share, how you choose to share them, and with whom. 

What does it mean to be a music therapist? 

• Who am I, or who do I think I need to be as a music therapist? How have I constructed my music therapy identity?
• Do I think there's a "right" way or a "wrong" way to tell my stories as a music therapist?
• What does it mean about me if I present myself in the "wrong" way?
• How much does my history/personality/temperament influence who I am as a music therapist?
• How comfortable am I when I feel I have to defend my role as a music therapist? In sessions? At work? In team meetings? What if someone doesn't like my story?
• How comfortable am I with regard to my skills as a musician, my skills as a therapist? And does that level of comfort (of lack thereof) have an impact on my identity as a music therapist? In what way(s), if at all, does this change my story?
• In what ways do my clients’ needs and expectations of me shape who I am as a music therapist? How do we weave our stories together?
• What do I believe makes someone a “good” music therapist? 
• How do my race, culture, gender, sexuality, abilities/disabilities inform who I am as a music therapist?
• How do my beliefs and/or prejudices with regard to race, culture, gender, sexuality, abilities/disabilities impact my work?
• How do I feel/respond when someone outside of my field defines my profession or makes assumptions about music therapy? What happens when someone else tells my story? What if our stories conflict?
• How has my identity as a music therapist changed and evolved as I’ve moved through my 20, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.? What are the ways in which my story has changed as I've grown through significant life changes (marriage, birth, loss, death, serious illness, natural/human made disasters, etc.)? 
• If I am a music therapist practicing in a culture that is not my culture of origin, how has this affected my identity as a professional?
• How committed am I to a specific identity or role (or story) I play as a music therapist? Am I comfortable expanding my identity/role? Is it okay to change the story? Under what circumstances? 
• How much of and which aspects of our clients' stories are okay for me to hear? And which aspects frighten me or make me uncomfortable? 
• What roles do I unconsciously assign to my clients?
• How do my beliefs about what constitutes music therapy affect the stories I tell about being a music therapist?

 (Copyright 2010 Roia Rafieyan)

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Introduction: Advocacy --> Recognition --> Access

Since 2005, the American Music Therapy Association and the Certification Board for Music Therapists have collaborated on a State Recognition Operational Plan. The primary purpose of this plan is to get music therapy and our MT-BC credential recognized by individual states so that citizens can more easily access our services. The AMTA Government Relations staff and CBMT Regulatory Affairs staff provide guidance and technical support to state task forces throughout the country as they work towards state recognition. To date, their work has resulted in over 35 active state task forces, 2 licensure bills passed in 2011, 1 licensure bill passed in 2012, and an estimated 7 bills being filed in 2013 that seek to create either title protection or a licensure for music therapy. This month, our focus is on YOU and on getting you excited about advocacy.

Celebrating National Psychotherapy Day

It's National Psychotherapy Day today- the first one ever- and I'll be celebrating by heading, just as I do every other week, to my therapist's office. Why? Because I firmly believe getting my own therapy is an important part of my job as a music  therapist. 

Knowing who I am and what kind of emotional baggage I'm carrying around with me helps me be present and attentive to the clients I serve when I show up to provide music therapy.

When my clients do their best to avoid hearing me invite them to look at a belief they're strongly committed to (sometimes even going so far as to literally stick their fingers in their ears), when they fall asleep mid-session because something we're addressing feels way too overwhelming, when they fight mightily against change...I have a pretty good idea of what it's like. I've felt and done the same (okay, maybe I don't actually stick my fingers in my ears or fall asleep in therapy, but I can be pretty darned noisy if I don't want to know something). 

I'll be honest with you: I am uncomfortable recommending any music therapist I know who hasn't spent at least some time looking at his/her own issues in therapy. I mean, what are we communicating to our clients if we think we're above getting our own therapy? If we, essentially, perpetuate the attitude of stigmatization associated with taking care of one's emotional and mental health? 

One of the (many) reasons I loved the HBO show In Treatment was that the writers made sure the therapist, Paul Weston, went (even though he was kicking and screaming the whole way and was more of a pain in his own sessions than any of his clients ever were in theirs)  for his own therapy! 

Psychotherapy for therapists goes beyond the usual nice, self-care sorts of things we tend to talk about in music therapy circles (you know...the whole getting a massage, taking regular vacations, taking a bubble bath and the like). It's an ongoing commitment to self-discovery, a recognition that, yes, we can and do get in our own (as well as our clients') ways, and figuring out how to (much as we may bravely resist) make changes in our perceptions and ideas about our selves, our lives, and our relationships. 

So, good people, with a grateful nod to Ryan Howes (a blogging buddy who shares his insights over at the Psychology Today blogs as well as being a contributing editor at the Psychotherapy Networker), I invite you to consider how you might join in the acknowledgement and celebration of National Psychotherapy Day. 

After all, mental health and self-awareness are most certainly worthy of celebration!

Music Therapy Advocacy Month- Our Most Powerful Advocates

Advocacy --> Recognition --> Access

Since 2005, the American Music Therapy Association and the Certification Board for Music Therapists have collaborated on a State Recognition Operational Plan. The primary purpose of this Plan is to get music therapy and our MT-BC credential recognized by individual states so that citizens can more easily access our services. The AMTA Government Relations staff and CBMT Regulatory Affairs staff provide guidance and technical support to state task forces throughout the country as they work towards state recognition. To date, their work has resulted in thirty-five active state task forces, two licensure bills passed in 2011, and an estimated ten bills being filed in 2012 that seek to create either a music therapy registry or license for music therapy. This month, our focus is on YOU and on getting you excited about advocacy.

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A story Paul Nolan (my teacher when I was in graduate school at Drexel University) loves to share is about how he used to constantly drill us in class to answer the question he insisted our clients would inevitably ask us: What am I going to get out of this? How is music therapy going to help me?

I, who had already been a music therapist for thirteen years with people who didn’t use speech to communicate, was convinced this was never going to happen.

Ahem.

Well, I was doing my internship at Hahnemann Hospital when I was referred by one of the psychiatrists to work with a man who was struggling with depression related to the spread of his cancer. Would you believe, the first words out of his mouth after my brief introduction and explanation of who I was and what I was there to do, were: What am I going to get out of this? How is music therapy going to help me?

Seriously!

I think I probably scared him a bit when I laughed out loud, and I asked him if my teacher had put him up to this.  And then, after explaining Paul’s perpetual insistence on our being able to answer this question, I answered him.

He agreed to let me sit with him and play music. But he was absolutely clear in his refusal to take part in any way other than to suggest a few songs and to listen. So that’s what we did.

We had a couple of sessions, and he’d gone home and that was the last I’d heard.

A few weeks later, I happened to be walking to the nurse’s station in the different unit of the hospital, and, as I walked by one of the rooms, I heard someone call out: Hey! Music Lady! Would you mind coming in? I have something to show you.

As it turned out, he was back in the hospital- sicker this time. And, although his participation during sessions had been rather minimal, he had remembered his experience in music therapy when he went home. He said he’d told his family all about it. And when he had to be re-admitted he had decided to bring along some of his own music (that he wanted to tell me about), and he also brought a record album (yes, a vinyl record album) of a band made up of a bunch of guys he knew back in the late 1970s. During one of his previous music therapy sessions he mentioned that he had taken a photograph of them, and they liked it so much they made it their album cover. And he had been hoping I’d come by, so he could show this to me.

Now, many years later, as I’m sitting here contemplating this idea of advocacy, I’m realizing that one of the ways we start to know how important music therapy is to our clients is when they begin to become their own advocates- when they want more music therapy, and they do what it takes to get services.

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A question that often comes up when I tell people I’m a music therapist and I work with folks who have a variety of intellectual and developmental disabilities (just after the usual “How interesting! What is music therapy?” question) is: How do you know it’s making a difference? If your clients are severely disabled and can’t tell you, how can you know whether or not your clients are benefiting from music therapy?

And I tell them sometimes it takes the form of my realizing that, after years of my client sitting and waiting for me to invite him or her to music therapy, he is now standing up when I come in the room to greet me and pull me to the door so we can go to his session. 

Or it's deciding that snack time (which can be considered one of the holiest times of day for some of my clients) is less important than going to music therapy and rushing through snacks so we can get to a session. 

At other times, it’s someone picking up an instrument for the first time to play it and not throwing it across the room.

I always think it’s cool when my clients (again, this is after many years of waiting for me to approach them and ask if they want to come to music therapy), see me go into the room where we have our group session, get up on their own and start to come in while I’m preparing the space.


An even more important way that I know what we're doing matters and is "working" is when my clients tell me (usually through their actions) "no" they'd rather not have music therapy on a given day. Because, ultimately, isn't being one's own advocate what we're working to support?

So, in this month of music therapy advocacy, I want to propose the following:

There is no more powerful music therapy advocate than a person who has been receiving our services and has gotten to a point where s/he wants to make sure those services continue.

And what a wonderful testament to the importance of the work we do when our clients can become their own advocates!

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For lots more blog posts about music therapy advocacy, 

please visit:

http://www.musictherapymaven.com/social-media-advocacy-month/

Can I get a witness?

Maddeningly, I managed to catch a cold the minute I returned to work. Well, I suppose it has to happen once in a while. As such, I've spent the last two days mostly napping and reading (and, of course, feeling guilty about missing work) (so much for my "perfect music therapist" fantasy) (ahem).


So, while I'm sneezing away here, I figure it's a good a time as any to post an update.


Update #1: The two taboo topics presentations seemed to go fairly well. There was a lot of dialogue, and a couple of people came up to me afterward and told me they had continued the conversation (some from last year) at their workplaces (which is very cool). 


Update #2: I submitted a proposal to do the CMTE (the one I just did at the Mid-Atlantic Regional conference) at the national conference (that would be for the American Music Therapy Association). I changed the title though (just the title). I proposed it as "Developing the Art of Self-Reflection: Exploring the Relationship Between Therapists and Clients". We shall see what happens. 


Update #3: I'm in the process of organizing myself (a task, I admit) so I can put a goodly portion of the work I did on the CMTE into a book (or a monograph of some sort).  Why am I telling you this (you may well be asking)? Because now that I've put it out into the blogosphere, I'll be forced to get on with it and do it! 


Update #4: I had a very touching experience (when I got back to work) with a small group of women who usually react to my absences by being quite challenging and doing a lot of testing and such. This time around, when I showed up on Monday, they all gathered closely around me while I sang "hello" to them. It was so sweet! And...


Update #5: ...the whole session was made even more phenomenal by the fact that their staff person (when approached by a client from another group who wanted to come and sing with us) very beautifully and kindly explained to her, "It's really nice that you want to come and sing, but this is a music therapy group, and Roia is working specifically with the ladies in this group on goals and stuff. She'll be here on Thursday to do the singing group, and you can go join her then." Sproing!!! Somebody shout "amen!" because that was probably one of the most respectful moments I've had in my career as a music therapist! I am so sending her boss a  happy note of "check out what your cool staff person said!"


I think that's pretty much the story so far. It was a good conference, I must say. It was particularly lovely to put some faces to names I know via Twitter and the music therapy list serv. And there were some really excellent and thought-provoking presentations. Another delight was gathering with music therapy colleagues and students to just play music togehter. Of course, staying up way too late probably contributed to my ending up catching a cold, but it was worth it. 

10 thoughts about music therapy advocacy- Part 2

I'm thinking that it might be helpful to know where I'm coming from in terms of music therapy advocacy as I share this list of thoughts with you. After all, you may be wondering what the heck qualifies me to preach at you about becoming an advocate? Here are some of the things I've done over the past twenty-three or so years:


During my time as a music therapist I have spent a lot of years as an active member of my state organization, the New Jersey Association for  Music Therapy (NJAMT). I was originally asked to join the board because I was a member of the former American Association for Music Therapy (yes, back then there used to be two associations, and they merged in 1998). I continued to serve, becoming Secretary, Treasurer, President, Newsletter Editor and ending as Public Relations co-chair. I am no longer active as a board/committee member, but I maintain my connection to NJAMT as the listserv coordinator. 


While I was President of NJAMT I also served on the NJCATA board (that would be the New Jersey Coalition of Arts Therapies Associations) as the music therapy representative for a period of time. I've helped to organize Music Therapy Day in New Jersey (which we have been holding in Trenton in the State House), and we organized a celebration of  30 years of music therapy at the facility where I work. 


As a performing singer/songwriter, I've talked about music therapy when I've had gigs, and I regularly find myself engaged in conversations about "what is music therapy" when I meet new people. These days I share stories about my work with you, kind readers. 


So. Yes. I've spent a good portion of my music therapy life advocating. I feel strongly about the work I do, and I care a great deal about the people I work for, namely my clients. With that in mind, here are my thoughts about what is helpful as we learn to become advocates:


1. Connect with other music therapists. Join a peer supervision group, connect through various social media outlets on the internet, or simply get to know the music therapists in your geographic area. I'm lucky. New Jersey has a lot of music therapists, and we have a fairly strong community, but we work at it, because it's important to us. Doing this type of work with a group of like-minded people standing next to you is a lot easier.


2. Know who you are and what it means to you to be a music therapist. It's very hard to advocate for yourself and for your clients if you don't know who you are professionally and why what you're doing is important. Really work at developing an identity for yourself as a music therapist. And I don't mean branding (although at some point that's important as well). What I mean is figure out your beliefs: about music, therapy, about what works for you and what doesn't, your approach, and hone your skills.


3. Be really good at what you do. By this I mean, find yourself a clinical supervisor. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record, but it's that important and that helpful. If you decide to get peer supervision instead, challenge yourself to go deeper- even if it means getting your own therapy- music therapy if you can. Look at your own issues. Figure out what issues and blocks come up for you when you're providing music therapy services, and work on them. This makes you accountable. 


4. Learn everything you can about the population with whom you're working.  Try to get as deep an understanding of the group of people you work with every day, and, as much as possible, try to learn from the people who experience the condition/illness/life experience. Learn what the issues are from their perspective, and then make a point of figuring out why music therapy is important for this particular group of people. When you have an idea of what someone's actual lived experience is like, you will be a more respectful and effective music therapist. And, by extension, you'll be a more effective advocate for your services (to people who may want to use your services, to facilities that may hire you, and, eventually, to legislators). 


5. Chat with people about music therapy. If you're a performing musician, you have a perfect forum for talking about music therapy (and sometimes a captive audience). Talk about what you do to high school students who are musicians. Tell people what you do when you're getting your hair cut. I mean, really. The possibilities are endless.


6. Answer questions about music therapy. Because I have a website or two, I get a lot of emails from high school and college students who are writing papers about music therapy. Do your best to be helpful. Sometimes people I've met (or relatives of people I've met) are considering the possibility of becoming music therapists. If they live nearby, invite them to come and observe you in your work (get permission from your clients/facility first, of course). 


7. If your state has a music therapy organization, join/volunteer. If not, start one. True, it's been a while since I was a very active member of NJAMT, but it was, and continues to be, one of the best decisions I made as a music therapist. It helped me to develop my skills as a leader, as a public speaker, as an organizer. It connected me with a lot of really great people, and it gave me a sense of being a part of something (which can be important, especially if you happen to be the only music therapist at your facility). It gave me the opportunity to do a lot of things I didn't think I could ever do. Your state organization keeps you up-to-date on what's happening with regard to legislation and can provide you with training so you know how to go and talk to your elected officials about music therapy.  They can be a resource for jobs in your state (or in a state in which you might want to relocate). 


8. Don't burn yourself out on advocacy. This may sound like kind of a strange thing to say after a big long pep talk, but it can happen. You can be all gung-ho for a long time, and it's great when you can do that! But you can just as easily burn yourself out without noticing it. And that's no good for anyone. So make sure that you have a life outside of music therapy as well. One of the best pieces of advice I got was when I observed my first music therapist ever. She said to make sure you always have somewhere to play your own music. Cultivate the many other things you love to do- cooking, hiking, reading, kayaking, sky diving...whatever excites you and lets you have your own personal identity as well. 


9. Sometimes in spite of your best advocacy efforts, things don't go as you hoped. It's the truth. Being a music therapist can sometimes be very frustrating. One of the most devastating experiences for me was spending twenty years at my job talking about music therapy, doing presentations for administrators, making sure people had information about what a qualified music therapist is, what skills we have, what training we have, and on and on. And one day, one of the other departments decided to hire a person who is not trained as a music therapist to work in a music therapy title and to "do music" with our clients. And there wasn't a blessed thing I could do about it. (Mercifully, the guy is really cool and never calls what he does music therapy, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the staff understands that he's not a music therapist.) It's important for you to know: it happens. It happens a lot. And when it does (because it will), you go back to the support system you've developed. You re-connect with the community of fellow music therapists and allies. Because you will need them. 


10. In spite of it all, love what you do. Celebrate when your clients take little and big steps. Theirs are the faces you'll see in your mind as you tell people what it is you do. Feel a passion for getting to be someone who gets to connect with people and who uses and plays music for a living. Because that is living. 


And, ultimately, that's what it's all about!

What is advocacy and why do we do it?- Part 1

Advocating for music therapy is, at its most basic, about telling people who we are, what we do, where we do what we do, with whom and how. It can be as simple as meeting someone at a party and responding to "what do you do for a living?" with "I'm a music therapist." And it can be as complex as working with legislators to get licensure for music therapists in your state. 

The reason we spend so much time advocating for music therapy is so that, when you and I are a lot older music therapists (and that's not to say that I'm not seriously getting to "older music therapist status" at a rapid rate here), when we say "I'm a music therapist," people will say "oh, my child is receiving music therapy services" or "I work with a music therapist in the hospital where I'm a nurse" instead of the blank stares that I used to get when I first started out back in 1987. 

In fact, the reason some of you younger folks (you know who you are) have even heard of music therapy is because there are a lot of us older folks (ahem) who've been talking about what we do for a long time.

Now, as more people are starting to learn about music therapy our focus as a profession has been turning toward gaining state recognition for what we do. After all, people who use our services (heck, sometimes music therapists use our services!) need to know they're receiving music therapy from someone who is trained, qualified, certified, and, in some states, licensed. 

Another thing we're working toward is third party payment. While there are some music therapists who are getting reimbursed by insurance companies, it is still extremely rare. Creative arts therapy providers will become a lot more accessible to those who need them when health insurance companies add "music therapy", "dance therapy" and "art therapy" to their lists of reimbursable services.

On another level, advocating for music therapy services is about creating jobs and opportunities for ourselves. We know why what we do is important, and we want to educate the people who could use our services. It also means helping the public to distinguish between music therapy, provided by a trained, board-certified music therapist, and the therapeutic use of music, provided by talented musicians who are sensitive to the needs of others.  Sometimes advocacy is about making sure we're appropriately compensated for the services we provide. The fact is that music therapists in many work situations are vastly underpaid in comparison to other allied health professionals. 

So, as you can see, advocacy is an important enough element that we need to, literally, build it into our work. In Part 2, I'll address some of the things I think are helpful as we engage in this process. 

Thank you and a preview

Well! 


First, I want to express my deepest appreciation to all you kind souls who follow my periodic blather. I am humbled by your willingness to allow me to share mental space with you- especially in this world of perpetual information and overwhelming amounts of weblife! Truly. Thank you!


Second, as some of you who are music therapists in the United States know, the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) and the Certification Board for Music Therapy (CBMT) have designated January 2011 as the month in which they've invited those of us who spend way too much time online to make a commitment to address music therapy advocacy in our various blogs and podcasts.


Neat, huh? 


What the heck is "music therapy advocacy" (you may well be asking)? Well, here are a whole lot of blogs you can go to in order to find out:

• Beyond the Music (blogger: Michelle Strutzel)
• Developmental Community Music (blogger: Kalani)
• Eclectic Guitar (blogger: Sara Sendlbeck)
• Key Changes Music Therapy (blogger: Natalie Mullis)
• Listen & Learn Music (blogger: Rachel Rambach)
• Mindful Music Therapist (blogger: Roia Rafieyan) (Hey! That's me!)
• More with Music (blogger: Amanda Ellis)
• Mundana Music Therapy (bloggers: Megan Resig and Kimberly Thompson)
• Music For Special Kids (blogger: Pamela Ott)
• Music Sparks (blogger: JoAnn Jordan)
• Music Therapy Drumming (bloggers: Bill Matney and Mike Marcionetti) 
• Music Therapy Maven (blogger: Kimberly Sena Moore)
• Music Therapy Research Blog podcast (co-hosts: Blythe LaGasee and Andrew Knight)
• Music Therapy Round Table podcast (co-hosts: Michelle Erfurt, Rachel Rambach, Kimberly Sena Moore)
• Music Therapy Source (blogger: Matt Logan)
• Music Therapy Tween (blogger: Michelle Erfurt)
• Revolution Rhythm (blogger: Jason Armstrong Baker)
• Rhythm For Good (blogger: Kat Fulton)
• Rhythmic Mind (blogger: Stephanie Kuester)
• The Music Therapy Show with Janice Harris (host: Janice Harris)

I invite you to read our blogs and listen to our podcasts and find out ways that you too can be a music therapy advocate. 


I'll be posting my thoughts and ideas about this topic tomorrow (I know! Two posts in a row? Wow! It's a miracle!), so I'm going to go and write that now, and I'll see you back here shortly!