Music Moves

It’s Advocacy Month for Music Therapy!

Click on the image above for other Advocacy Posts from Music Therapists this month!

Advocacy –> Recognition –> Access: an Introduction

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 35 active state task forces, 2 licensure bills passed in 2011, and an estimated 10 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.

**While this time, and the information below, may seem primarily geared for other Music Therapists out there, I hope that non-MTs will find it valuable as well, because we all have the power to become stronger advocates for Music Therapy and other causes we may believe in!**

It makes me proud to be able to say I not only live and work in the first state to pass a licensure bill on Music Therapy, but that I was part of the State Task force that legislated for it.  According to a quiz created by fellow Music Therapist & blogger  Kimberly Sena Moore of Music Therapy Maven, who wrote the above introduction and is pioneering much of this month’s Advocacy promotion (to help us find the Advocate in all of us!)  I am “Not Afraid to Take the Lead.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly happy to let other, more qualified, individuals do the big talking if necessary, but here are some of the little things I did, continue to do, and encourage you to do as well to advocate for Music Therapy, or any service that you or someone you care about receive which you believe in as strongly as I do about the services I and so many other qualified professionals provide.

Take on the “Oh that’s nice” look & educate the people around you, no matter how small (or large!) the ripple it creates may feel.

So often, especially in North Dakota (we’re well known for this look), when I answer the question “What do you do for a living?”  I am met with an expression (facial or verbal) that indicates the asker has no real understanding of what I’ve just said, and would rather comment vaguely than reveal they don’t know what I’m talking about.  And so often (again, in North Dakota this is the way things go more often than not) in the past I would simply murmur in response something like “Yeah, I love what I do,” and go about my business.  But, the more involved I became in my work, and the more passionate I became about my career – especially leading up to (and since!) the creation of the ND Music Therapy licensure bill – the more I’ve been inclined to respond with a more specific follow-up that,  so far without fail, leads to a more rewarding conversation.  Something like “Yes, I work with my state School for the Bind and Deaf, using music to help my students achieve non-musical goals like turn taking and locating objects in space.  I got my Board Certification in 2008 and have just been loving what I do.”  The first time I used this phrase I felt like I was rocking the “North Dakota Nice” boat – I thought for sure the “Oh that’s nice” look as about to turn into the “I get it, we’re done here” look.  But I never get that look – sometimes my conversation partner will follow up with a question about Board Certification or where I went to school, sometimes they’ll ask what kind of music I use or what kind of activities I use, but no matter where the questions lead, this person who began not knowing a thing about Music Therapy is able to come away knowing just enough to tell someone else they know, and that person can tell someone they know, and so the ripples spread. A little light rocking of the boat is ultimately always a good thing.  Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big description that you give (in fact, it’s preferred that you not make it a big one, you don’t want to overwhelm your listener and tip the boat over entirely), but always have a little something in your back pocket that you can pull out to define what you do in a way that can give just the oomph you need to drive home the value and credibility of what Music Therapy does.  You never know who you might be talking to, or who they might know or speak to later.  You may find yourself , as I did, answering the question “what have you been up to” in answer to your old Highschool English teacher and find that she is your region’s house representative.  And from there you may find yourself written into a little piece of history, you never know!

Volunteer to share your experience and services from time to time – Be prepared to make music anywhere, anytime!

Just as it’s useful to carry a little blurb on your profession (or the way in which Music Therapy impacts you) in your mental “back pocket” to take out and use at any time, keep a little music making story or intervention there too – I like to  use talking about music and exercise as a gateway to discussing gait training and the way in which music can help to strengthen the link between movement and the brain.  If I’m talking with a group of people in a room where it’s ok to make a little noise I might ask them to recall a song that they enjoy dancing too and see how many of them can remember the dance moves while I sing the lyrics, or in more quiet scenarios like a dinner conversation I’ll just ask those around me to remember a song from their childhood and tell why it means something to them.  The Macarena is one song I remember clear as day from my 6th grade Christmas party – my teacher was battling cancer that year.  It was the last semester she taught before the taking a leave of absence from which she never returned.  Thus, my memories of that song are bittersweet.  It’s always a good time to dance through it with friends again, but when I do I remember Mrs. Bosch and it also makes me sad.  Moving to the music again brings with it so much more than just the movement itself: it brings strength, range of motion, and improved brain function, even emotional release and healing, through the planning of the movements themselves and the memory of the times when you did them.  I find when people are able to see and recall these types of experiences in action, it cements the strength of the ripple effect initially created by talking in more detail about what Music Therapy is and what it can do.  This is why I also like to volunteer my services occasionally as well: when people can see what Music Therapy is capable of without the pressure of paying for services, they may be driven to seek out services for which you would charge a fee.  That’s an excellent time to grow your own business if you’re in private practice, refer individuals to practicing Music Therapists in their area as applicable, or encourage them to advocate for your profession with their communities and legislators so that access to services can become more readily available.

Become a part of your research community.  Find it, know it, create it.

This to me has been the most important thing that I learned while working with legislators in North Dakota.  I know firsthand what my job can do – the families I work with know firsthand what Music Therapy can do, but legislators need numbers – they need undeniable evidence that shows just where and how Music Therapy impacts lives: what interventions work, and to what extent.  Be on the lookout for studies on Music, and communicate with others about them.  Through talking them out, you learn more about research in general and can start to play a part in it.  Take surveys to contribute to others’ research, look for more accurate ways to take and measure your own data, and be proactive about showing it to people.  Memorize all the numbers you can and add them to your little back pocket collection of history and interventions.  The more knowledgeable you are about your field, the more prepared you are to talk about it and share its effects at any moment, the more impact you will see from your work.  This is something I’m still hard at work on in my own practice – as I near the end of my graduate degree, research is becoming a more important part of how I look at the world, and I look forward to learning more about it every chance I can!

With the passing of licensure bills for Music Therapy in North Dakota and now Nevada, I am continually excited to see which state will be next.  I am also excited to see the future effects of such legislation as they unfold – I realize that the passing of such bills alone is not the end of the journey.  North Dakota has moved on to the creation of the board to oversee the license created by our bill, and from there the board will meet to write regulations that in time will lead to the actual application of Music Therapists to qualify from licensure.  From there, who knows where we’ll end up, how many jobs will be created, or how many more people will gain access to services.  The sky’s the limit, and YOU can be part of it!  Wherever you are, whoever you, whatever your relationship to Music Therapy, you can make a difference. Through advocacy, we achieve recognition, and through recognition we improve access.  And ultimately, access is the true beginning of all health professions.  Once someone has access to services, they have access to life.  So keep talking, keep sharing, and keep learning!