It was a pleasure attending and presenting at this year's Southwestern Regional American Music Therapy Association conference (SWAMTA) in Austin. It was great meeting new people and discovering several school connections. I especially enjoyed meeting the Texas Task Force, a team I am honored to be involved!
Just like the task forces in other states, the Texas Task Force is working to pass legislation to protect music therapists, and the public, by achieving recognition for the profession on a state level.
At SWAMTA, members of the Texas Task Force presented a legislative panel on the current state recognition, the legislative process, and highlighting effective strategies. The presentation and panel was a home run, and many conference goers were excited about the updates, and suggestions on ways to advocate. The Texas Task Force also had a lovely booth in the exhibit hall.
I bet you're wondering what makes a Music Therapist different from a Music Educator? It is a common question, and music therapists who work in school often have to explain this, and that's okay! It's always better to clarify and advocate, than for people to misunderstand. While the fields of music therapy and music education share many aspects, the duties done are quite different, not to mention some MT's (myself included) are dual certified. Currently, music therapists obtain a music therapy degree which includes supervised clinical hours, then applying and completing internship, followed by taking (and passing) the national board exam. All those criteria must be satisfied in order to rightfully, and legally, obtain the MT-BC (Board Certified-Music Therapist).
What's that have to do with state advocacy? Well...a lot actually! Achieving recognition for the field on the state level comes into the picture at this point because persons who do not hold the MT-BC could intentionally or unintentionally call themselves a music therapist and misrepresent the field, misinform the public about what music therapy is about, and could do harm to clientele. Unfortunately, it is legal (though very unethical) to do that in states that do not yet have recognition of the music therapy field.
Real life example: In some states, laws are being passed to make it legal for non-certified teachers to teach in public schools due to teacher shortage. There is, of course, heated emotions on both sides of the fence. The importance of certification and licensing for professions from education, to health, and mental health, is vital for the protection of the public, and the accountability of the professions themselves.
More information about advocacy state-by-state can be found here http://www.musictherapy.org/policy/stateadvocacy/
and here http://www.cbmt.org/advocacy/