Regional Conference review

Yesterday, I went to the Midwestern American Music Therapy Association regional conference at the University of Iowa. It's a multi-day event, but I only went to it yesterday. My employer offered to pay for one day there and reimbursed one day's worth of registration fees. It was a really great thing for them to do. As this was the first day of concurrent sessions, there was an opening session, with a keynote address outlining the accomplishments of music therapy advocacy over the past year. It was by Dr. Mary Ellen Wylie, who is the president of the American Music Therapy Association. It also featured the Afro-Cuban drum and dance performance group at UI, which was really interesting and fun to see and hear.

There were two times of concurrent sessions, which means that there were multiple presentations going on at one time and you get choose which you attend. It is always a tough decision, however, because there are usually more than one presentation that sounds interesting. Because there are multiple music therapists that work for Iowa Hospice, we sat down and decided we'd each go to one, take notes, and pass them off to each other at a later day. Then, overall, we all get more useful information. My first session, then, was entitled "ENGAGE in Advocacy: Your Role in State Recognition." To make a long story short, music therapy "task forces" in 38 states are trying work with state governments to become a licensed or registered profession according to state law. This would increase music therapy awareness and make it easier for people to become involved in music therapy, either by becoming a music therapist, becoming a client, or letting music therapists [potentially] be reimbursed through Medicare/Medicaid. There have been a few successes, the most recent in Georgia, where a bill passed through their state Senate licensing music therapists. This would increasing the regard for music therapists by the state government. Iowa, where I call home, is planning a Hill Day next year where we can, perhaps, meet a state representative who will sponsor a bill for us. Overall, this was a very informative session and, to be honest, much more interesting that I had anticipated! To take part in advocacy, the presenters encouraged us to ENGAGE, stands for the following:

Educate everyone

Nurture relationships

Grassroots networking

Access for clients

Grasstop connections

Empower people

The second session I attended was called "Therapeutic Music or Entertainment: A View from Health Professionals and our Response." This presentation outlined an in-service provided by two music therapists to hospital and hospice employees. They educated on the differences between music therapy and entertainment and between music therapy and other therapeutic music practices. The three other practices they discussed were music practitioners, music thanatologists, and harp therapists. All these practices have some similarities with music therapists, in that they have training programs, use music, work in medical settings, and are generally misunderstood by the public as entertainment. Music therapy differs from the other practices in that music therapists actively engage clients, can work with mental health, have measurable non-musical goals, document outcomes, and have the longest training period. These other practices are not widely known in the Midwest, but are becoming more well-known on the coasts. As music therapists, then, we not only need to establish ourselves as health professionals [as opposed to "entertainers"], but also be able to educate on the differences between music therapy and these other fields. It is important to respect these other practices, but be able to differentiate and educate the public so they can make informed decisions.

I learned a lot from these sessions and, if you want more information, feel free to ask me. I took copious notes throughout the sessions. I've learned how to more effectively advocate for myself, as a music therapist, and my profession. It was great to see a bunch of other music therapists from around the country. When I work alone so often, it can seem that I'm a "lone ranger", but I'm not! It was good to connect with other MT-BCs and I look forward to more conferences in the future!

By the way, I will begin giving links to other music therapists' blogs at the end of my posts to give my colleagues some love. This week's blog is Soundscape Music Therapy. Rachelle presented the advocacy session I attended yesterday.