Defining Music Therapy

If you haven't seen it, the World Federation of Music Therapy has released a definition of music therapy. You can find it here.

I gotta tell you that I really like this definition.

Defining what we do as music therapists is difficult because what I do with clients may be completely different from what you do with the same clients, and that is fine in the grand scheme of things. We do not have to agree exactly on what we are doing and how we do it to share this profession.

As our society moves towards more egocentric behaviors and attitudes that opinions are facts and difficulty with others, I feel that having a shared definition is important. What I do in music therapy sessions is enveloped in the WFMT definition, and yours is as well. I think that we do better when we realize that each of us has a unique way of doing this job and that we need these paths to enrich the lives of our clients. In other words, I do music therapy the way I think it is appropriate and you do it your way. We are able to do things differently because we have different experiences, attitudes, perspectives, and clients. Just because you do things differently than I do does not mean that you are wrong in doing things your way. Do you get what I'm saying??

I have been saying, for years and years now, that the greatest threat to our profession comes from the inside. I have stepped away from some professional organizations because of the strife that is occurring in these groups. I have tried to support diverse thoughts and experiences from an organizational perspective, but I have not felt like some members want to come to a consensus - they just want to be declared "right" and then make the rest of the profession do things their way. I am afraid that these attitudes will tear us apart, so I am glad to see this new definition which allows for those differences.

I have printed out two of these definitions. I am going to put one into my work binder and the other in a frame for my office space. I am going to parse these statements to see how I interpret them. I may write about this definition for some time, or you may never see this again, but I am thankful to have the chance to think this through - yet again.

It is time to start this day. I have a meeting with my peer supervisor and that's all that I have to do. I have about two hours before the meeting starts, so I am feeling a bit stuck with doing anything else. I need to put together two presentations which I will be presenting in two weeks in our Rhythm to Results conference. That's today's job - flesh out those presentations while preparing for a meeting and trying my best to clean and clear out something from my home. My home is getting more organized as I go through things, but it is not ready to share with others...

Fellow music therapists, what do you think about the WFMT definition of what we do? Let me know in the comments.