music, therapy, and me

I was offered an interesting opportunity recently that has made me start to think a bit about our Board Certification examination. No details about the opportunity, but I am thinking again... Before I get too far into this particular topic, let me tell you a bit about myself and where I come from as a board certified music therapist. I took the examination in November 1993. In those days, back in the last century, the test was administered once per year. You had to go to the closest examination center where you sat in a room full of people taking all sorts of certification tests. There weren't many music therapists in the large auditorium that my test was held, but all of the seats were full of people taking all sorts of tests. I am a fast test taker, and I finished my test in 20 minutes. I was terrified that I had failed because it did not take me any time at all to finish, but I passed. I have no idea if I passed well, but I passed and that is all that matters for this examinatio...

I read a comment on one of my social media pages from a person who is attending conference as an MT-BC for the very first time. This person was a bit confused by the idea of umbrella groupings (as I have been in the past) and was asking questions about how they even worked. So, I rolled up my sleeves and answered the question. Here's the deal. Umbrella groupings are our opportunity to select presentations that support our individual continuing education needs. So, I get to choose, attend, and justify my selections for as many CMTEs as I can possibly get during the conference. Umbrella groupings are one of the sneaky little things that we MT-BCs can take advantage of to glean as many CMTEs as possible from our conference fees. Basically, if you can justify your presentation attendance and demonstrate learning that directly applies to the CBMT Board Certification Domains, you can get extra CMTEs. For example, my presentation selections seem to be primarily based on private pr...

I just spent some time on the CBMT website , getting my recertification process underway. (If you don't know what the CBMT website is, then PLEASE click the link to find out more about board certification and what we music therapists have to do in order to continue to be music therapists!) I sat down with my vita, my certificates, and my presentation powerpoints and put in all of my activities. I have never had a problem finding things to use for my 100 hours of activities, and I always have things that I could put on my credits that I don't because I don't need to do so. I take advantage of free courses at conferences, I write my own songbooks, so I get lots of possible credits there (didn't have to use any this time around), and I present all the time. I also do service for several music therapy organizations. I attend conferences and have made training for myself outside the world of music therapy a priority for myself during the next five years. This is the fir...

It is that time again... CBMT recertification time! I sent off my application for recertification this morning in the wee small hours of the morning. This is the fifth time that I've done this process, and I can tell you that I am happy to do so each time. I feel that being board-certified is an important part of being a music therapist. I have never thought otherwise. I've worked with people who have not felt that being certified was important. It baffled me that a professional would not want to keep up with changes in their profession. It continues to baffle me. There are many arguments - I can't seem to get my 100 hours done. Really? It's only 20 hours per year, and I can get hours for every required training that I have to take at work already. I can get hours for CPR/First Aid, Behavior Crisis Management Training, and other requirements once per cycle. Go to a conference - 5 automatic credits. Present - another bunch of credits. Attend a course - more and mo...