The Biggest Challenge of All - For Me, At Least

I'm currently doing a business challenge led by two music therapy business superstars, and there were some questions about why I was attending, and that started me to think about my feelings and knowledge and the biggest hole in my education and professional knowledge of being a music therapist.
I know very little about being a business person, and the thought terrifies me!
I have never been able to take a class on basic business concepts or methods, and my primary way of being comfortable in doing new things is to study it thoroughly in every way possible before trying it out.

Do you know that I've had a business-focused website for 24 years? Do you know that my passion is to help you, fellow therapist, with some of the chores that we all have to do? Do you know that I want to help you stay a music therapist through offering you some fresh ideas, some ways to make things easier, and helping you work smarter, not harder? I just don't know how to do these things in a business format!

So, I am participating in this business challenge because I want to learn more about how to be in business.

I have some of the basics down - I know about business plans and mission statements. I know about getting licenses to operate and taxes to pay. I know about making and selling products (and I've got SO many of them to offer!). What I don't know is how to coordinate all of my knowledge into something that actually works! 

So, that's why I signed up for this particular business challenge. I know that there will be lots of information on how to expand my current interests into something that will help out my fellow music therapists and help me a bit financially as well. I know that there will also be lots of information that will not necessarily apply directly to the type of business that I want to run, but I can make transfers, so it will be very valuable...also, in the back of my mind, I have this idea for a community music therapy center that I would love to establish...once I win the lottery!

I've also got to tell you that music therapy small business owners are my heroes and inspirations! I envy the skills that they have used to establish business presences, and I have always felt that my own skills as a music therapist are somewhat lacking because I have never been able to get my ideas going. 

If you are out there, worrying about the next contract or whether you will ever find a therapist to cover your waiting list, please know that I am firmly in your corner, rooting you on, and feeling so very proud to share the title of music therapist with you! 
I am sure that I will be writing more and more about the thoughts that are coming up as I go through this challenge. Thanks for reading. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more