What is the Mission of AMTA, and How Do I Want to Support That Mission...

I spent some time after my 12 hour day at work (after which I cried all the way home) looking at comments that folks left on various social media sites about my current string of posts. I appreciate and read every single one, by the way, so please keep them coming. I am not afraid of dissent or conversation or downright disagreement with anything that I write about, so feel free to tell me what you think I get wrong or am a bit off-centered about. I can take it...

One of the people who reached out to me reminded me that the American Music Therapy Association has a mission statement. I feel a bit silly not having referenced (or even remembered) this fact in any of my writings yet, but there is a mission statement. Do you know what it is? I had to go searching for it, and it was not easy to find. After being linked back to the home page (where EVERYTHING is located), I finally found it in the picture slideshow after about seven pictures (the way my browser presented things). Here it is, copied directly from the website as of yesterday evening. 

"What is AMTA's Mission?

The mission of the American Music Therapy Association is to advance public awareness of the benefits of music therapy and increase access to quality music therapy services in a rapidly changing world. Click the picture to learn more."

(American Music Therapy Association. (n.d.) What is AMTA's Mission? https://www.musictherapy.org/)

I am finding myself drifting farther and farther away from the mission during this conversation, and I need to figure out what this mission statement means in my own head as I continue to discuss what I need to discuss.

First, I like that there is really no mention of how AMTA has to cater to every single music therapy professional out there. The focus is on the presentation of what we do AND on client access to what we do.

Second, it does what AMTA does best - identifies things that all of us can agree on but that no one really understands completely. (Have you ever read our definition of what music therapy is??? It confuses everyone I share it with!) We are so good at having to navigate so many different ideas, considerations, and sensibilities that we come up with statements that are very broad to help us cover any and all possibilities.

As I am looking at the mission of the American Music Therapy Association, I find a couple of things interesting. Everything that is mentioned is outwardly focused. It is the job of AMTA to market music therapy services in as many places as possible AND it is the job of AMTA to help the clients who need music therapy services find those services. I can see where people who are asking for specific things from the association can fit some of their requests under the mission statement, but I feel that some of the demands may be moving us farther away from what we want to be doing as a group of music therapy professionals.

So, as a member of the American Music Therapy Association, I want to ensure that we continue on our mission as stated, OR that we come up with a new mission statement so we can figure out what we are doing as a group of people under some sort of consensual focus and action plan. I would like for us to think about how we are furthering the mission or hindering it as we go into conversations and debates and interactions on social media. When I am representing the music therapy profession out in my little bit of the world, am I supporting the mission of my organization, or am I hindering that mission?

I can see (somewhat) where discussions about education and clinical training can fall under our mission statement - it seems to be an access to music therapy services type issue - sorta. Well, maybe. I mean, in our current situation, we feel that music therapists need to know specific things about music therapy and they need to find a place where they can practice being a music therapist so they can integrate all the things they know into a way of doing the job. I wonder why we didn't include something about education and clinical training in our mission statement, but, having written several of these statements via committee, I can imagine how the discussion went about what to include.

So, how do I support this mission?

To be honest, it was not something on my radar AT ALL until I was reminded by my friend that we actually have a mission statement. When I was a committee chairperson, I never referenced the mission statement (mistake) to see if what we were thinking was guiding our decisions. When I was on a visionary board, I cannot recall being asked to think about our mission statement. I have never been to a Board of Directors meeting, but I hope that they are using this statement to guide their discussions and decisions all the time. I would want to hear that mission statement repeated in every meeting of every committee as a guide to what needs to be discussed and determined.

When I attend business courses, I am asked over and over again how specific things support my mission statement. If a particular thing does not support that statement, I am asked to decide whether that thing is something that I really want to be spending time, treasure, and talent on, or if I need to change my statement. I have found this to be a really good metric for whether something is important to me or not.

As a result of my ignorance of this particular role of AMTA, I have tried to place expectations on my association that do not match or support this mission. I also have questions about some of the things that my association tries to do and how those things fit within the mission. 

Perhaps this is the way forward when interacting with members - start with the mission and examine how decisions are based on the statement.

Now, as a member, I have to realize that there are things that my association cannot do for me. They cannot decide how much money I am going to earn at my job. My job decides that amount, and I decide whether it is worth it or not. (Some days...oof!) My association can represent me and all of us at discussions with senators and representatives about health care requirements or educational legislation, but my job is between my employer and myself. AMTA cannot decide where jobs are located. That is not part of their purview. That is my work to do - as a professional. AMTA cannot pull the plug on every entertainer who says, "Oh, I do music therapy, too" without having any sort of formalized music therapy training. AMTA can approach that entertainer to provide some education, but ultimately, we do not have ownership of the term "music therapy," so there isn't much that AMTA can do in these instances. AMTA is not responsible for whether I am employed. That is my work to do in this world.

On the other hand, as a member of AMTA, I can ask for things that are part of our mission to be more readily shared with members. More communication is always better than less communication. I can demand that we share this mission and how it relates to decisions made at every communication point. How did ending the Masters Level Entry discussion support our mission? How does the Board of Directors feel that the mission statement guides their decisions on issues that are part of the association's debate at the current moment (being vague here because of my lack of knowledge about specifics - getting all my information about things via apology emails and vague social media posts)?

Let's center ourselves and our conversations in the mission statement. Let's make the first question that we members ask ourselves, "Is this related to the mission of this organization?" 

I think I will make some word art with this mission statement to place in my office area to remind me that my organization represents me, but that I am a representative of my organization as well. This does not mean that I have to support or agree with everything that my association does, but I have to separate my opinions from association facts. I have to allow for the ideas, challenges, and debates of others, but it is never a bad idea to center myself and any sort of association business in the mission of our organization.

That's how I think I will start to support the mission of AMTA - being aware of that mission and doing some thinking about how what I say or do is part of that mission.

Now, it is time to head to work, celebrate an intern graduation(!!), and do my job with my clients as a music therapy professional and member of the American Music Therapy Association.

Please keep reaching out to me with your comments, questions, challenges, debates, and reminders of things like (hunh) the mission statement!!