Four New Year’s Resolutions for Music Therapists
Another new year, another list of resolutions to be forgotten new week, right? Not this year.
Below are four ideas to benefit your music therapy practice for yourself, your clients, and the field.
No guilt required.
1. Get Involved
While the number of board-certified music therapists continues to grow (currently at 6000+), the future of music therapy still very much relies on the field being connected. There is amazing work being done to increase the public’s access to services, grow music therapy’s body of research, and support professionals, but none of it can happen without people getting involved in the conversation. Joining the American Music Therapy Association, volunteering for advocacy efforts with your local State Task Force, or even keeping up-to-date with Facebook groups like Music Therapists Unite! are all ways to stay current with and contribute to our profession.
2. Be Positive, Not Defensive
With the public’s increased awareness of and interest in music’s health benefits, the number of options for integrating music into therapeutic contexts is only going to grow. Are all these approaches “music therapy”? No. But, I believe there is a place for all therapeutic methods involving music. Jumping to clarify whether every mention of music helping others is “music therapy” feels like whack-a-mole and, frankly, exhausting. Instead, let’s use that energy to continue positive education efforts about what music therapy can do, while also creating a supportive climate for other uses of therapeutic music.
3. Goal-First Session Planning
I’m guilty of activity-based planning myself. When I was short on session plans, I’d start from a theme (e.g. “What music fits with the month of January?”) rather than my clients’ goals. This doesn’t serve my clients well because a theme-based sessions may miss opportunities to target my group’s functional needs and my ability to respond in the moment. This year, I resolve to use my clients’ goals and objectives to inspire creative interventions, not the other way around.
4. Re-establish Your Relationship with Music
The funny thing about being a music professional is that sometimes music becomes work. Of course we got into this profession because we have a deep and intimate relationship with music, but there are days when I’d rather listen to talk radio than music on my commute home. Setting aside time to be selfish about music (i.e., music that’s only for your benefit, not related to work) is one way to maintain the spark that led you to this work and avoid burnout. Go ahead, join a choir, sing an acoustic version of a bad pop song, or buy those concert tickets. Permission granted to do music for its own sake this year.