Vamos a empezar

I spent this last week wondering where to begin with this blog. When I posted the first post on facebook I was surprised and pleased by all the non-music therapists who checked it out and showed an interest. I had originally planned for this blog to be beyond the basics of music therapy and dig deeper into bilingual and multicultural music therapy but as Julie Andrews suggests, we shall start at the beginning (it is after all, a very good place to start).

What is music therapy?
According to the American Music Therapy Association, "Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program." Knowing there are whole books written on the definition of music therapy, you're probably more interested in what I would say to you if we were to meet in the hall or the elevator or at a party (this happens all the time).

At its core, music therapy is the use of music to help people. Of course music helps people in a million different ways, as evidenced by searching "music therapy" on Twitter, which undoubtedly overwhelms you with many many many tweets of "Dave Matthews is my therapy" or "music = therapy."

To call something "music therapy" though, you'll need a few key components, which are highlighted in the definition above...you need music (obviously) to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional.

Who is a music therapist? a credentialed professional

When I was in high school and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life I knew how much music had helped me get through some rough patches in my life and I wanted in turn to use music to help people. I love asking other music therapists how they got into music therapy and basically everyone has the same story: I loved music, I had this profound thing happen in my life that music helped me get through, and I started searching for a way I could help other people with music.

For someone to call themselves a music therapist, they must become educated, trained, and certified. There are a couple different ways to become a music therapist:

1. Undergraduate Degree (your typical 4-year program)

2. Undergraduate Equivalency Degree (if you already have your undergrad degree in a related field, you can take the required undergraduate core music therapy classes without receiving a second degree)

3. Master's Equivalency Degree (this is what I did. I was nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in music when I decided to become a music therapist and instead of transferring away from the only place I had ever wanted to go to school, I completed my BA in music in August of 2005 and began my music therapy master's degree that very same month. Basically I was in master's level and undergraduate classes at the same time. Mind-boggling at times? Yes.)

There are, of course master's programs and doctoral programs in music therapy, and those may be pursued after becoming board-certified and acquiring clinical experience.

A typical music therapy curriculum involves the study of music, music therapy, psychology,  biological, social, and behavioral sciences. I absolutely loved the balance that my music therapy education struck between music and science. A music therapy degree is a full-on music degree that includes training in theory, music history, your primary instrument, composition, arranging, conducting PLUS psychopathology, biology, physiology, and then all the music therapy educational components including principles of our practice, research, methods, and (my personal favorite) the psychology of music.

Included in music therapy training is clinical experience during coursework and a 6 month internship once coursework has been completed. These experiences train the student music therapist across various population settings which may include preschools, public schools, assisted living facilities, psychiatric facilities, hospices, hospitals, and everything in between.

Finally, when all the classes, clinical practica, and the internship is completed, you may then sit for the national certification exam. If you pass you have the credentials MT-BC or Music Therapist - Board Certified. Music therapists are certified by the Certification Board of Music Therapists.

Up next: therapeutic relationships and individualized goals

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!

January 2011: Music Therapy Advocacy Month!

This is a blog I should have started a long time ago to chronicle the journey that started with one little two-part question in my music therapy research class several years ago: "How many bilingual music therapists are there and are they using their bilingual skills in their practice?"

I asked the question for several reasons:

1) I come from a bilingual family. My dad was born and raised in Memphis, TN. My mom was born in Laredo, TX, grew up in San Antonio, and English is her second language.

I love speaking, singing, and listening to Spanish! I grew up listening to and learning Spanish, as I spent many days with my grandparents in San Antonio and many summers visiting my grandmother's sisters and family in Laredo. I studied Spanish in high school and college, and lived in Spain for two months on a mission trip in my undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

2) I received my Bachelor of Arts in Music at UT and the cool thing about that degree is that one may choose what they want to concentrate their studies in. I bounced around from clarinet performance to music business and recording and after an incredibly intriguing Renaissance music history class (hard to believe, but trust me, my professor was amazing) finally rested on ethnomusicology. Because of the caliber and experience of the professors in the ethno program, I dove into Hindustani music, music of Mexico and the Caribbean, and a couple African American music history classes. I loved learning about how music and culture profoundly effect each other.

3) At the same time as my research class, I was also in a graduate philosophy music therapy class and was challenged to examine my views on music therapy and while I never aligned myself with one particular philosophy, I held Altschuler's isoprinciple very close to heart and started wondering if we as therapists are truly meeting the needs of our patients if they speak one language and we speak another.

All those questions led to a survey study that eventually led to a master's thesis, presentations at regional and national AMTA conferences, and the publishing of a book of Spanish songs that are translated for music therapists to utilize in their sessions. Bilingual music therapy has impacted every step of my music therapy education and training from practicum sessions across client populations, to my internship, and my job as a full time music therapist at a children's hospital.

This being music therapy advocacy month, I decided to start this blog to go back and revisit the foundations of multicultural and bilingual music therapy because the research is rich and there is a strong multicultural current in AMTA right now. In the future I hope this blog will host discussions and be a place where we can all share ideas because odds are if you're a music therapist reading this right now you can think of a client of yours who you know would benefit from bilingual music therapy.

Thanks for reading and I do hope you'll stick around :)