Music Therapy Profession: Current Status, Priorities, and Possible Future Directions.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine and understand the present status of the field of music therapy by investigating important areas that affect the daily experience of music therapists across the United States and impact the development of the profession. The field of music therapy is in a constant state of change, relentlessly setting new goals in order to advance as a profession and to further its acceptance. Six overarching questions guided the study: 1) what experiences affect the professional growth of music therapists? 2) what are the opinions of music therapy faculty and members of the American Music Therapy Association regarding the undergraduate music therapy education requirements? 3) what are the most important achievements of the music therapy profession and what are its current challenges? 4) what are current research trends in music therapy and are there areas that require further research attention? 5) what are the long-term goals of the music therapy profession? and 6) how is music therapy portrayed in the media? Participants for this study were ten music therapy faculty, seven active leaders of the American Music Therapy Association, and one additional individual who had served the field in a leadership capacity for many years but was currently neither a music therapy faculty nor active leader. Hour-long individual interviews were carried out over the telephone with each of the eighteen participants. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and mailed for a member check. Results indicated that music therapists’ professional growth is directly influenced by their years of formal education, their mentors, and communities of practice. Participants consider the strength of the undergraduate curriculum is that it is built upon articulated competencies. At the same time, most feel the curriculum is very full, leading to students graduating with underdeveloped skills in certain areas. The unification of the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy was considered one of the field’s most important achievements to date, while the small size of the profession was perceived as the biggest challenge. Some participants would like to see increased use of qualitative methodology in music therapy research, as well as studies that clearly describe the music therapy process. Additional research in the areas of autism and teaching and learning was deemed necessary. The top goals for music therapy include growing the size of the profession and gaining greater levels of respect, recognition, and acceptance within the medical field. Participants of this study think that media portrayals of music therapy have improved in the last few years. Many attributed the general public’s greater awareness of the profession to recent representations in books, movies, and news broadcasts, suggesting these are effective means of educating the public about music therapy.