So , What Is It You ACTUALLY Want, Then???

I am amazed how many times I find myself thinking this exact title phrase during conversations with many different people in many different settings. This question, more than any others, is the thing that I am wrestling with at the moment in our current music therapy state of being.

Okay. The disclaimers.

I am a person of perceived privilege because of who I am, the level of education I have been able to attain, and because of what people automatically think about me when they see me.

I am also a person who is not aware of many things happening in the music therapy world at the moment. I have heard some stuff, but I am not always in the know when it comes to the latest scandal.

I know a bit about regulations and expectations of organizations here in the United States. I have very strong opinions about several different things, and I tend to share those only when feeling strongly about a specific topic and only here on my blog. I do not believe that social media is a place to make these statements.

I know that my opinions will offend some, confuse others, and resonate with yet others. My opinions are just that - opinions and mine. I do not offer these ideas out there into the world to be persuasive but to figure out how I think and feel about things. Comments are welcome, but I am very picky about what I will publish on this blog, so feel free to disagree, but I will not post your comment if it is mean or spammy or deemed to be nasty in any way.

In our society right now, there are many calls for things to change, but there are not many action steps out there. "Things need to change" is a handy little statement, isn't it? It is a declarative statement, but it doesn't really define anything. In fact, I use this statement all the time when surveying my house - "Things need to change." I mean, "duh." It isn't until we know exactly what needs to change and how those things need to change that change can actually happen.

There are many voices clamoring for change at the moment, in the music therapy world as well as in our bigger society. Lots of people want "change" but there are very few actual solutions that are agreed upon by those that want "change." No one seems to like the status quo, but when pushed to make an action plan, no one seems to know exactly what solutions will be most effective and make the changes that people want.

Now, from an organizational standpoint, there are many things that have to be done away from the eyes of the public. There are many things that have to be done within the regulations of the federal standards for specific organizations. There are some things that are not the responsibility of not-for-profit organizations. There are some things that such organizations cannot do without putting their organization into jeopardy. Membership in such organizations may know bits and pieces of what is happening but will rarely know the entire situation.

In the music therapy world, there seems to be the same sort of call for change. I am not in the entire know of what is going on, but I am aware of bits and pieces of what appears to be the latest outrage. There is a call for "change" again, but I am still missing the action steps.

Here's what I think - feel free to correct me, if I get any of these statements wrong.

• There is an issue surrounding plagiarism. This would be addressed within the Ethics Board which would be confidential to all parties involved.
  
• There is an issue surrounding diversity and inclusion. This is a continuing topic that is not just present in the music therapy world, but everywhere.
  
• There are many people who feel disenfranchised by the process of education and clinical training in the United States.
• There are many people who place the entire blame on the American Music Therapy Association for all things that have transpired.
• There is little to no understanding about the roles of the persons who run the American Music Therapy Association versus the roles of the members within the organization.
• Nothing in the music therapy world changes quickly - I believe there are many reasons for this, but I think the primary reason is that universities do not change quickly - a quick change in higher education is after only seven years - this timeline is not often quick enough for persons who perceive crises.
• Some of the inequalities and difficulties that music therapists experience have been placed upon us by us - the population of music therapists who have been before us and who continue to teach us that this is "just the way it is" rather than empowering us to find our way.
• There are lots of voices shouting about change, but not many people stepping up to get those changes happening.

Oh my. I am one of those people who is not really stepping up to get changes going. I have been less than participatory in the happenings of the American Music Therapy Association in the past several years for many different reasons - mostly due to hurt feelings and a bit of disgust that things that I put into practice were discontinued. It was easier to step away from everything but membership recently. I have also been hesitant to enter into many of the controversies that I have heard about because I am not in the know. I do not know people involved. I do not have any sort of grounding other than what I read on Facebook, and I do not trust Facebook as any sort of reliable source of information. EVER! I am not part of the Board of Directors or any sort of committee work for AMTA, so I do not know what is actually happening within the organization. I will never be an Assembly member, so I will not be part of that conversational piece either. I have to trust that there are things that are happening that I will never hear about or experience directly.

I always wonder if the people who are making statements about "the need for change" are working within the organization to help make "change" come about. It seems that many people complain from the outside. That cannot work. You have to be a member to make decisions on what the organization will do. If you are not willing to be a member, then your voice has little to no influence on what the organization does. The organization exists to support its members.

Do you know that if a music therapist is not a member of AMTA, they do not have to follow the AMTA Code of Ethics or any of the other documents that are part of our professional responsibility? If a music therapist does something unethical and is not a member of AMTA, there is nothing that AMTA can do. Isn't that interesting?

I was raised by an Occupational Therapist who maintained membership in her national organization even when she was a stay-at-home mom. Being part of the professional organization was never an option for her. I was "raised" in my education program to be a member of my own national organization. 

I belong to one of the only groups of music therapists who has to be professional members of AMTA to do part of my job for the profession - internship director. Did you know that professors do not have to be professional members of AMTA? The universities have to be affiliate members, but professors do not have that mandate. I have to be a member in order to train the future generation - something that I do not get any sort of financial benefit from. 

Students pay tuition to their universities, but I volunteer my time, energy, and finances to support interns for seven months of training. I cannot offer a stipend because I cannot afford to take money out of my salary to give to interns and my not-for-profit organization cannot pay interns without significant changes to the clinical training program. For example, if my facility paid interns like they pay the Behavioral Health Technicians at my job, then interns would have to leave music therapy to cover classrooms, would have requirements for overtime that would interfere with their primary function of LEARNING TO BE A MUSIC THERAPIST! (Believe me, I have had these conversations before.) I don't want facility needs to interfere with clinical training, so we will NOT be pursuing salaries for my interns. They will have to remain volunteers. 

I am member of AMTA because I have to be. I am also a member of AMTA because I figure that I cannot be a part of change within the organization from the outside. I am a member of AMTA because I figure it helps me as a professional to be represented on the federal level by people who pay attention to what the government does. I choose not to pay close attention to things like that, so I pay my dues in order to be represented by others who do attend.

What I am asking the greater AMTA membership now is "What are the changes that you want?"

People say that they want more diversity. What would be an action step towards gaining more diversity in our field? What does that look like to you? How will we know that we have reached this metric? Do you want more diversity in the types of members in the membership of AMTA? Do you want more diversity in the ranks of professionals out in the world?

What is it that you ACTUALLY want?

These are things that have to be discussed, debated, defined, and decided. People have to be patient as it is not always as easy as "as of this moment, the world of music therapy does X, Y, and Z." There are systems that are in place that have nothing to do with AMTA (ahem, higher education!) that also have parts in these changes. 

We are used to living in a world of instant information and instant gratification. Unfortunately, the types of things that people seem to be calling for are not actually things that can change with a nod of a head or a wiggling nose (do you know those television show references??). They take time. They take energy. They take involvement and a willingness to be part of significant systemic change over a long period of time.

But...

First, we need to know what you ACTUALLY want.

Comments, arguments, and challenges welcome.