music, therapy, and me

One of the best things about being a bit overly passionate about any one thing is that I can write an entire series of posts about the topic without having to think much about something to write every morning. My major issue with the American Music Therapy Association Professional Competencies is that there is too much room for interpretation. I understand the need for some flexibility within the competencies, but as they are written now, they do not meet the requirements for objectiveness, clear definition, and being able to be evaluated in a yes/no or pass/fail system. So, I completed operational definitions for all of the competencies from the perspective of my job in my facility for my interns. (Lots of "my"s, aren't there?) Operational definitions take something that has lots of interpretations and makes that something into a series of specific tasks/skills. I know that my list of definitions is not complete, but it works for my internship program. Here's how it ...