Synthesis Sunday: The Most Recent AMTA Statement and Attached Materials

The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) released an email statement to members on Friday about the current state of our Association and what is happening in the next several months. This statement documented some of the things that have already occurred in the restructuring process and included several links to supplemental materials. The email indicated that AMTA has changed some of the processes and day-to-day duties and situations of the organization and continue to examine areas where we still have room to change and grow.

I, for one, really appreciate the way that information is being shared at this point. We now know the dates of all the Board Meetings and Assembly Meetings from now until the end of the calendar year. We have been assured that these meetings will not be closed to membership viewing which is also a good thing. There is a little bit of information about the AMTA Symposium (Sunday through Wednesday??? Why??) and the fee schedule (better than last year, for sure!). The thing that caught my attention and synthesis mind was the "AMTA Member and Non-Member Feedback Thematic Analysis" document that was completed in August 2022 by Kate Myers-Coffman, Chelsea Mabes, and Katrina Koszczuk.

I am a process person. I like knowing a timeline for specific situations and having clear outcomes to know when we have accomplished things. This attached document satisfied my recent need to know what was happening and what people want to focus on in this restructuring.

The categories that were recognized were structural/governance changes, administrative/operational changes, and community member requests for the focus of the organization (pg. 1). They pulled materials and information from Music Therapists Unite (uh-oh) and Music Therapists for Social Justice Facebook groups. I have never been on the Music Therapists for Social Justice page, so I have no idea the make up of that group, but I removed myself from Music Therapists Unite several years ago due to the constant negativity and environment of unrelenting criticism that pervaded that group...AND, none of those feelings were directed towards me! I just could no longer be part of a group of people who did not unite on anything and ridiculed and criticized anyone who expressed opinions other than the original poster's opinions. I did not feel that group was united in any way, so I decided that I needed to leave the group for my own mental health and because it did not serve its purpose for me. I am glad that the authors of this summary did not only focus on those sources, but I wish there had been more groups involved in this than MTU.

Getting into the meat of the ideas shared - the first portion of the document focused on structural/governance changes. The first category was improving communication and access to information. There was a reference to a "progressive stack model" to guide communication structures. I had no idea what that model entailed, so I've done a bit of examination, and I have provided a couple of links to blog posts and the Wikipedia (I can feel you all cringe, professor readers!) that helped me understand what this model entailed. There is a recommendation that an apology letter from current and past leaders be sent out that "explicitly states and acknowledges harm and wrongdoing" by this month. We will all be invited to attend all governance meetings - which is HUGE, by the way - and finding more ways to communicate with both members and non-members using social media.

There was only one medium term change suggested - find a public relations professional, and no long-term changes.

The next portion was concerned with committee and leadership service. The general themes that emerged seemed to be get more new professionals involved in volunteer service across the board including student members and looking at our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals as we are moving into an organization with these values as our primary lens. There are many recommendations in this area, and most of them require us, as a profession and as a professional organization to fully embrace the core values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

On a personal note, I fully embrace those DEI core values, but I am afraid that our organization will get into trouble when people expect AMTA to fix problems that are part of larger organizations and institutions. AMTA cannot dictate admission policies to music therapy educational programs in universities. AMTA cannot dictate salary requirements to different facilities. AMTA cannot regulate the ways that members are treated by non-members. I hope we can come to some understanding of what AMTA can and cannot do and share that information with members and non-members alike.

The last section in this particular portion of the document included strategies to clarify and improve procedures and reporting. This was almost completely focused on DEI changes and critical evaluation of current systems and necessary changes, but there were also some recommendations that I have been wondering about - professors do not currently have to be professional members of AMTA, but their programs do - this was brought up as a concern in another section of the document. It was recommended that academic program staff be required to be professional members of AMTA and then subject to AMTA ethical review and other AMTA expectations. 

The next chapter of this document included financial recommendations, changing membership with focus on accessibility and equity, conference cost, philanthropy, and social media and website communication and management. Many of the suggestions in this chapter included looking for outside funding and making things more affordable for members to encourage more people to be members, changing benefits for membership, and resetting the website.

The last chapter focused on what community members have asked for including music therapy education and training, advocacy efforts, and the clarification of our mission and vision as a professional organization. Of these categories, the only one that included a short term focus was the clarification of our mission and vision of AMTA. Everything else was deemed to be medium term and long term. I think that some of the requests for changing music therapy education are doable by AMTA, but I am not sure that all of them will be things that AMTA can dictate. There is a request to change the idea that we have to be classically trained musicians to engage in music therapy coursework. I know that the music education/music therapy program at the school that I attended was one of the biggest sources of funding for the folks who provided lessons - I wonder if the university would go for a significant change in how we classify the musical foundations for music therapy majors. It makes me wonder.

There are many recommendations that require curriculum changes. There are recommendations for changes in internships including splitting up the time (which is already permissible under our current format - I guess people do not explore their options) and requiring "mandatory extensive DEI training" for all people who are in leadership positions.

I am glad that this was released to the membership. I am glad that we are working towards a more inclusive professional organization. I am happy to consider some of these things as possible, but I am also skeptical about some of the things that have been identified because I do not think that academia as an institution where music therapy plays a very small role will shift to accommodate just us. We will need to have some patience as the antiquated processes and settled procedures of each university or college catch up to the (what they perceive as) frenzy of our current membership demands and societal change.

This will all take time. We cannot expect immediate changes as we navigate through a restructure of how things are done in this new reality that we face as humans and as professionals. The best we can hope for is constant change and growth as an organization. It is up to each of us to make our own decisions about what is important to us, but to also realize that we cannot always be at the front of the line. We need to take turns as we move forward. We need to celebrate our small steps while still focusing on the ultimate goal. We also have to decide for ourselves what we will and will not engage in as part of this membership. If AMTA cannot meet our needs, then we do not have to be members. That is something that has to be considered as well. Unless you are interested in supervising interns, you do not have to be a member of AMTA.

One of the things that I have to keep reminding myself is that AMTA is a business. They are in the business of coordinating music therapy professionals and advocating for us on a national level. They provide resources for us as individuals, but the primary focus of the organization is on a national level. There is separation between AMTA the business and AMTA the members, and I think we, as members, do not always realize that practical aspect. AMTA the business has to do things to sustain their business requirements. AMTA, the members, have different needs and requests. There will be times when those two things do not mesh or merge at all. It would be nice if there was more information about what AMTA the business can and cannot do and what AMTA members want from the organization - this process seems to be happening, which is historic and very good to see...

Links to progressive stack model sites below. Happy Sunday.

 

 

https://theithacan.org/news/progressive-stacking-used-to-address-inequality-in-classrooms/

https://thetattooedprof.com/2017/10/20/the-progressive-stack-and-standing-for-inclusive-teaching/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_stack