Music therapy advocacy
As students, interns, and professionals – we are in this field because we believe in it. We have studied and in many cases seen the benefit of music therapy for the clients we work with. Music therapy is questioned because despite the research and the observed benefits, it is still not widely accepted or even known about by the general populace and insurance companies. Music therapy programs are opening up at more colleges and funding sources are beginning to open up options to fund music therapy, but there is always room for growth and improvement. Here are three ways (in no particular order of importance) that you can advocate for music therapy as a professional!
One way is to talk with people and other professionals about music therapy. To effectively do this, we must be up to date on the current research whether learned through our education or our continued education as professionals. After we are thoroughly informed, we can educate others through conversation and perhaps even presentations about music therapy. The American Music Therapy Association website has many different research articles and journals to pull from (https://www.musictherapy.org/research/). Finding a platform through social media may be a good option, or even speaking at conferences and conventions in both music therapy and music therapy related fields. One of the challenges as a young professional is that you may constantly find yourself having to talk and reiterate the benefits of music therapy, so it is important to be informed and equipped with updated information. Sharing your experience as a professional, intern, and student, will also go a long way to show the benefits of music therapy.
Another way to advocate for music therapy is by implementing new research into your practice. Applying and integrating new research and techniques is essential to provide best practice services for your clients. By using best practices, you can see the efficacy of these new techniques and help bolster the field by acknowledging the benefits of the treatment across different populations and environments.
A final consideration is to be sure to do good work. Put your heart into it and show clients and families how music therapy can work. Keep track of goals and progress and share successes with clients, families, caregivers and program funders. This is essential to advocate for the efficacy of our profession. Check in and take care of yourself. There is only one you and if you’re not well, you can’t take care of others. When we do good work, progress shows and it is to the benefit of ourselves, our clients, and our field. When you do good work, you advocate for music therapy.
Advocacy burnout is a very common thing in our field.
Check out this discussion hosted by AMTA (The American Music Therapy Association) that talks about advocacy burnout in the field of music therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAt72U_Le4g
It can be draining to constantly try to convince people that music therapy is effective and worth the cost and effort, but as therapists we know it is. As you find yourself having to explain why you’re doing music therapy; remember that the good work you do will ultimately show why it is beneficial.
Through my internship I have found myself advocating for music therapy on a consistent basis. I have helped with presentations at WRAMTAS and also studied various music therapy protocols and techniques during our symposiums (which is a time where us interns and professionals were able to read articles and watch videos on various aspects and topics related to music therapy). I have used these techniques to develop interventions for my clients and groups as well as to receive feedback from my supervisors. I have honed these skills with current research and done my best to present them in sessions. I have also had experience debriefing with parents and talking about the interventions and activities we did during the session. I have had some pushback. One time after my second session with a client, one of the parent’s said, “Did he actually do anything during the session?” (The parent usually sits outside). But I reiterated the goals we were working on and talked about how through the music I was building rapport and assessing his capabilities with attention and interaction. That specific client ended up being one of the most fun sessions I’ve had.
In closing, music therapy is worth it and I think when we put our care into the work, it will show and it’ll only keep getting better –
Eric Amparo, Music Therapy Intern
