*This is going to be a two-parter, for reasons that will become clear in a bit. So, if you're reading this before 12pm on January 17th, come back later this evening for the stunning conclusion.*
Something I love about being a music therapist in the North Texas area is the multitude of incredible music therapists who span a wealth of expertise from NICU to education to health care to hospice. A bonus is that everyone is super friendly and downright evangelical about the music therapy cause.
Today I'm going to have lunch with the illustrious Janice Lindstrom of The Music Therapy Show to discuss music therapy advocacy. Now, I thought I was going to get all up into music therapy advocacy a few years ago when I attended our regional conference in Austin, Texas. I attended a session on advocacy where a big group of music therapists went down to the State Capitol and spoke to various delegates and sometimes their secretaries about what music therapy is and why it's important.
I mostly just listened. I felt way way WAY out of my league when it came to artfully articulating the needs and wants of music therapists across the State of Texas. And then I got overwhelmed by all those days I spent daydreaming in Texas history class and NOT paying attention to how the whole system works. I know there are phone calls that need to be made and letters that need to be written but...to whom? And what the heck am I supposed to say? I have just recently gotten to the point in my career where I think I can succinctly define music therapy, paying attention to the interests of my audience and playing up to their experiences (do you have a grandparent in a nursing home? With Alzheimer's? Do you know someone who has a child with Autism or has been in the hospital recently? Are you a doctor/neuropsychologist/social worker/grief counselor? Let's chat). Most importantly, I am crazy passionate about my field. It is just so exciting, relevant, and changing lives that I could probably talk all day about it.
But get me thinking about writing proposals or grants or letters to congresspeople and I lose my cool. It's not that I get intimidated so much by the powers that be, it's that I'm not yet confident in my own "advocacy skin" - or all of it. Yet. Thankfully, the American Music Therapy Association has incredible resources on everything that I am stymied on, and I'm going to spend a little bit of time on this blog working through it, because I think in the bigger picture of learning how to advocate for music therapy as a whole, I will be able to find ways to apply it to advocating for bilingual and multicultural music therapy, which may eventually lead to...I don't know - new music therapy jobs in predominantly Hispanic communities? One can only dream.
Since 2005, the American Music Therapy Association and the Certification Board for Music Therapists have collaborated on a State Recognition Operation 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 toward 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 being music therapy advocacy month, the focus is on YOU and on getting you excited about advocacy.
I should note here that there's a huge flash-mob-blogger thing going on this month to get the word out about music therapy advocacy, and you can check out articles that have already been written on the following blogs:
Right. So...uh, I guess where do we start? How is this going to be relevant in the North Texas area? Hence my lunch with Janice as mentioned above. I'll get back to you after lunch.
