Investments and Returns:
#MTAdvocacy Month

When we invest money, it is because we want to get a return on our investment, to see compounded growth in our investment over time (return on investment or ROI) to fund future projects or to meet financial goals like retirement.  In our profession of music therapy, we might also consider what we invest and what returns we hope to see.

Investments:

1. You must invest in yourself, in your education, in your musicianship, in your self-care, in your continuing education.
2. You must invest in your clients through your absolute best efforts, through your creativity and through your responsibility.
3. You must invest your patience in a profession that is still in many ways evolving, growing and changing.
4. You may invest your time and financial resources in service to the profession through local, regional and national associations.
5. You may invest your energy in discussing and debating the best route forward for our future clients and for our field.

Returns on investment:

From the perspective of “returns” on our investment, really we are describing our brightest and best vision for music therapy:

1. Maximized recognition and access to service for clients/consumers in need, via insurance and other 3rd party funding, in every state in the US.
2. Maximized public understanding of the practice of music therapy in the context of the many milieus in which we work.
3. A sustainable, well-compensated, consistently talented and trained, music therapy workforce that continually grows and expands upon our current body of practice and research, resulting in the highest quality of music therapy services to all.

As CTMTS approaches the 10th anniversary of it’s founding, we continue to invest the best of what we have to offer in our community.  We are doing everything we can to provide the highest quality of service to our clients, in part by helping to grow a strong, stable and vibrant music therapy profession.  To this end, we are happy to share that CBMT and AMTA have developed an updated Scope of Practice and we look forward to working with our colleagues in investing in our profession’s future.

From CBMT:

As the profession of music therapy has been moving forward with recognition at the state level it has been identified that a document was needed to reflect a similar format to other health care professional organizations Scopes of Practice. CBMT and AMTA worked together to create a Scope of Music Therapy Practice (2015) for the profession based on published documents from both organizations.  This new document entitled Scope of Music Therapy Practice (2015) is available as an educational tool and legislative support document that broadly defines the range of responsibilities of a fully qualified music therapy professional with requisite education, clinical training, and board certification. Click here to read the Scope of Music Therapy Practice (2015).