Systems in Music Therapy: Thinking About Professional Development

Today is the last day of my Fall Break, and I am getting ready to reveal my 2019-2020 professional goals to the world of this blog tomorrow, but today, I am focusing on what types of things I want to learn about this year. I try to expand my knowledge of music therapy as much as I can, but I tend to do better if I think through it all.

Since I have decided not to go to the National Conference this year, I have decided to spend the money that I usually devote to that particular event on other forms of professional development. I've already spent about half of that money on a CMTE course for business development, so I have about half of that money for other pursuits. When I finish the business course and submit my CMTEs for being an internship supervisor, my 20 CMTEs for the year will be complete, but I will still be on the lookout for more educational opportunities.

One of the things that I like to do is to delve into my library to enrich my knowledge of all things music therapy. I have collected many textbooks and journals and presentation handouts over my years and years of music therapy practice, and I like to figure out ways to assimilate the information into my music therapy services. I try to make this into a coherent whole and then I like to share what I've learned with others through a variety of venues - this blog, CMTE coursework, webinars, presentations - you name it! I am trying to figure out my focus for this upcoming professional year.

My goal-setting time is almost always here at the start of a new school year. It seems to be a natural time to sit down and set some professional goals, so I am doing just that. I have already set my clinical goals (these are things that I will do in my music therapy services to my clients), and now it is time to set my professional development goals (these are things that enrich my knowledge of music and music therapy). In the past, I've done book reviews, article reviews, and written lots of posts - all for myself. In the future, I want to do something a bit more purposeful with my learning.

So, my plan is to take a music therapy topic - one that interests me and that has a direct effect on what I do as a music therapist - research it, make a CMTE course about it, and then offer it to others. Right now, I am interested in strengthening my supervision skills as an internship director, and I think that will be my focus for the first semester of this year. 

The System

As with almost everything that I do, I am more likely to complete tasks when I put them into a structure that is clear to me. This is where my system comes into place. I go through a process that I've always used - outlining, expanding, refining, and then sharing. The benefit that I gain from this particular system is some clear action steps that spur me on to accomplishing things.

Here's my system...

1. Find a topic of interest
2. Start to ask questions about the topic - write questions down
3. Collect information - texts, articles, presentation materials, blog posts, social media posts - music therapy and non-music therapy sources
4. Put information into categories linked to the questions from step 2
5. Use information to develop answers to questions.
6. Ask additional questions based on information gained by previous process.
7. Repeat until questions are answered or interest wanes...

The Topic

So, my current topic of interest is all things internship. I am an internship director, and I am finding that I am needing to make some changes to accommodate some of the challenges of this current group of students. These are challenges that have not been present in the past, so I'm at a bit of a loss about why these challenges are happening now, but I think there are some answers out there. 

So, the next action step is to take some time to formulate some more questions about internship training and my role in that training. My system will work for me - it has in the past - and I will spend quite a bit of professional time working on this thought and aspect of music therapy clinical life.

My goal is to spend about three hours a week on this topic during the fall semester. I already have a notebook for my notes and information and reflexive journaling process, so I'll get started on this today. I already have one book and some information outlined, so I am ahead of the game!!

What systems do you use in your music therapy practice?

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