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Advocacy Month Wrap-Up

I finally have some time to read and reflect on all of the great posts out there from the bloggers who participated in the Joint AMTA/CBMT Advocacy Month project. I love that I am finally taking steps to become more actively involved in this online community of music therapists. It is encouraging to see so many of us out there "fighting the good fight" in support of music therapy. I thought I would share a few of my thoughts and links to a few of the posts that caught my eye as a wrap-up to the month.


Music Therapy Advocacy on All Things Healing by Rebecca McClary: I realized I left off a very important part of "Everyday Advocacy," inviting administrators to and sharing products from sessions when appropriate. Nothing is more powerful than actual observation of how music meets needs in such a unique way.

Let Me Explain Something You May Not Know on Beyond the Music by Michelle Strutzel: I love how Michelle encourages the reader to make their "circle a little larger" and their "voice a little bigger." Perfect advice, and so beautifully put.

Teaching Advocacy on Music Therapy Source by Matt Logan: Matt shares a story of overhearing his roommate describe music therapy--and the realization that we are teaching those around us to advocate for music therapy every day. I hadn’t thought of that in terms of advocacy before, but he's absolutely right! I had a similar moment with my Mom when she showed me a newspaper article she had seen, clipped, and shared with a dozen friends all on her own (before I was able to vet the information--eek!) It was a great article, informative and ACCURATE and extremely supportive of music therapy. I realized she has a great understanding of what music therapy is and how it helps the clients I work with. It is nice that she is proud to explain to others what I do--but even more gratifying to know she is explaining it accurately and effectively!

My Take on Advocacy on Music Therapy Tween by Michelle Erfurt: I love Michelle's story. It has reminded me that even though my current job is less than ideal, and I feel like I fight the advocacy fight every day with only middling results... it may pay off down the road. Even if not for me, it will still be a win for the community at large! Services will be expanded to meet the needs of more people, music therapy will be better supported, and hopefully better understood. Gives me hope. :-)

Advocacy: A New Music Therapist's Thoughts on The Rhythmic Mind by Stephanie: Stephanie shares her perspective on advocacy--and discovers that a lot of it lies in everyday moments. A girl after my own heart!

MT Advocacy: Potent Presentations on Soundscape Music Therapy by Rachelle Norman: We've had a lot of snowdays, and I've been bumped a few times, but I am still hoping to do a presentation for the alternative school side of the facility I work in. I love Rachelle's points for shaping your next presentation.

10 Thoughts about Music Therapy Advocacy on The Mindful Music Therapist by Roia: I love Roia's thoughts, especially the one about finding clinical supervision (something I struggle with since it is unavailable in my facility) and the one that sometimes, even when we do everything right, it goes wrong (something I need to remember!!)...

There are so many great posts out there, I hope you've had a chance to check a few out! If so, which posts have you really enjoyed?

Comments

  1. Anonymous4:55 PM

    Thanks for the link love! Lots of the ones you listed were ones I enjoyed as well :)

    Stephanie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:55 PM

    Thank you for linking to my post. I too have been enjoying reading everyone’s thoughts and ideas about advocacy. I don’t receive clinical supervision at my facility. I found a supervisor (a loooong time ago) through one of the regional newsletters (wow, this was back when AAMT and NAMT were two separate entities!). My supervisor has always suggested finding someone whose work you admire and asking her/him if you can pay them to supervise/mentor you. It’s rare that we can find supervision at our worksites, but who knows? Maybe there will be more opportunities in the future when we realize the value to each of us as professionals and to the field as a whole.

    --Roia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michelle Erfurt3:10 PM

    Just saw this post from you... Thank you so much for mentioning me!

    ReplyDelete

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