Ever seen one of those graphics with two columns reading, “Music therapy is” and “Music therapy is not”? What about someone commenting on a poorly-titled news article (e.g., “Music Therapy Resonates With Local Dementia Patients”) with, “This person isn’t an MT-BC! This isn’t music therapy!”
Maybe you’re the one who created that graphic. Perhaps you’re the one who reported that article, or the volunteer who calls herself a music therapist. You might call this advocacy.
Or maybe you’re like me, and believe this is the wrong approach.
I’ve been a music therapist (yes, board-certified) for over a decade. I’ve worked in hospice and palliative care, pediatrics, mental health, and substance abuse settings. I’ve created and developed lasting programs, and proudly brought music therapy to thousands of people. And I’ve never once corrected someone when I heard him or her mislabel music in healthcare as “music therapy,” or - conversely - when I’ve been called a “music teacher” or “volunteer.”
There seems to be a misconception in our field that educating people about what music therapyisn’tsomehow advances whatis.
Here’s why that’s problematic.
Licensure or no licensure, music therapists do not (and never will) have exclusive rights to use music in their work. Doctors, nurses, techs, volunteers - they can all utilize music in the way they care for patients. And we should celebrate that!
What music therapists should be doing is using this as a platform to advocate for music’s utility in the healthcare setting - not because it’s good for us, but because it’s beneficial for everyone. And once we’ve established that music has intrinsic therapeutic value, we can position ourselves as the most qualified practitioners for harnessing it.
Music therapists would better advocate for the profession by talking less about thecredentialsthat make us qualified, and more about theoutcomesthose credentials facilitate.
There’s another argument music therapists make about distinguishing themselves from non-credentialed providers - that doing so “protects” clients from the potentially negative adverse effects of care from an non-credentialed provider. And there is some validity to this assertion.
Take this example from an article on the music therapy and harm model (MTHM):
"The music therapist shuffles a playlist of popular music and an upbeat party song begins, but the music therapist observes the client tensing their body and averting their eye gaze. This sudden change in the client prompts the music therapist to verbalize their observations and ask how the client is doing. The client then becomes tearful and responds that the song being played reminds them of a friend who recently committed suicide. The music therapist asks the client if they would like the music to be turned off before fading out the music and modeling deep breathing, all the while continuing to visually monitor the client’s responses. The music therapist then begins to hum the melody of a chant used earlier in the session with lyrics about feeling grounded. The client responds by breathing deeply for a few moments without saying anything until their posture is more relaxed. The music therapist then fades the humming and provides the client with an opportunity to verbally process their associations to that song" (Murakami, B. (2021). The music therapy and harm model (MTHM): Conceptualizing harm within music therapy practice. ECOS - Scientific Journal of Music Therapy and Related Disciplines , 6 (1), 003.https://doi.org/10.24215/27186199e003).
We serve through a tremendously powerful stimulus, and this vignette illustrates its capacity to facilitate adverse effects. But the key to advocating for our place in healthcare lies in emphasizing our ability to wield music safely and effectively - not in our credentials alone.
The fact remains that there is a spectrum of competence in the field of music therapy (as there is in every industry). I’ve met hundreds of music therapists over the course of my career. Some were musically gifted, and others couldn’t play barre chords. Some were brilliant clinicians, while others didn’t know the first thing about how to develop a care plan. What did they all have in common? The letters “MT-BC” after their names. These weren’t interns. These weren’t newly-credentialed, young professionals. These were veteran professionals, with years of experience.
Is board-certification irrelevant? Of course not. It is a valuable and necessary requirement to help maintain standards for our profession. But it also does not guarantee positive outcomes, just as it doesn’t eliminate the potential for negative outcomes.
So whatisthe answer?
For one, stop vilifying non-credentialed musicians who provide services in healthcare. They are members of our team - not our enemies. We have the opportunity to help lead and develop these practitioners to better use music as a vehicle for health and well-being - and ultimately - to help more people. And after all, isn’t that the point?
About ten years ago, I founded and developed a hospice program. Upon joining the organization, I was the sole music therapist among dozens of music volunteers - all of whom had been with the company longer than me. When I met them, many introduced themselves as “music therapists.” Some even made comments like, “Oh, they actuallyhiredyou? I’ve been doing music therapy here for years, but I don’t get paid.” So how did I respond?
“Thank you for the wonderful care you provide to these patients! Yes, the company hired me to develop a full-time program. I’ll be in touch about ways we can support our patients together.”
And then I brought them in, educated them about providing music in that setting, and branded ourMusic Careteam as a music therapist-led volunteer service. That team helped to expand the reach of our small music therapy program - not by excluding those individuals, but by bringing them into the fold. Collaboration is a preferable route to competition.
The other major change we need to make is this: Talk less about the credential itself, and more about how it makes us different.
It’s a subtle, but profound shift in mindset.
When you apply for a job, no one calls offering you a job once you’ve submitted your resume. You go through an entire interview process to assess your skills and fit for the role. Why? Because credentials aren’t enough on their own.
Telling people “music therapists have to complete an approved music therapy program, 6-month clinical internship, and pass a board-certification exam” hardly matters if no one can tell how our services are better for patients than what a volunteer can provide for free.
This is a simple cost-benefit equation, and it’s our job to demonstrate how we’re worth it.
And that’s what this all comes down to - outcomes! When music therapists demonstrate how the outcomes we facilitate are worth investing in, we will be on the path to more reimbursement, more companies being willing to pay for music therapy out of their operating budgets, more protections, more awareness, and more opportunity.
That’s real advocacy.
It’s no one else’s responsibility to see our value. It’s our job to show it.
