The Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists (The Commission)
Final Report of the AMTA Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists
The American Music Therapy Association Board of Directors is pleased to share the Final Report of the AMTA Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists. This visionary report makes recommendations about the future of education and clinical training in our field. We are deeply grateful to the Commission members for the tremendous work that went into the creation of this report.
The Commission Report and accompanying materials are located at AMTA-U.thinkific.com
For the full information along with information regarding how to access the report and material at AMTA-U see this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1keuveQwlwcTUQ48PieoQ0OYKqsYOfGvIvTuBS9cyvPA/edit?usp=sharing
The Commission
Ron Borczon
Jane Creagan (ex officio - National Office 2019-2022)
CharCarol Fisher
Jen Hicks (Co-Chair)
Feilin Hsiao
Jennifer Jones
Betsey King
Marisol Norris
Donna Polen (Co-Chair)
Tracy Richardson
Cori Snyder
Daniel Tague
The BOD charged the Commission to:
● identify inconsistencies within degree programs to support clinical practice in a changing world;
● identify inconsistencies among and between National Roster and University Affiliated Internship programs;
● recommend changes to enhance current education and clinical training practices;
● support the ongoing efforts to increase state recognition of the MT-BC credential;
● and support efforts to encourage diversity and inclusion in the profession.
Reach-out occurred in a variety of ways:
● Google form (and corresponding QR code) with space for feedback on the two main questions, five charges, and solutions to guide our recommendations
● Direct email to all music therapists on the CBMT mailing list
● Presentations at national and regional conferences
● Meetings with Ken Aigen and Bryan Hunter for their
perspective from unification as well as APAC, AIAC, CRTF,
DEI(AJ), NASM, etc.
● Posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Your Responses:
We received over 480 responses via the Google form, email, and social media*, including:
❖ Responses from all seven regions
❖ Responses from both AMTA members (67%) and
non-members (33%)
❖ Responses from students, professionals,
educators, researchers, and business owners
*Note that social media threads were each added to the Google form as a single response in order to maintain the thread of the discussion.
Other 2019-2023 Highlights:
● In-depth discussions around our own experiences and biases as well as feedback from others related to our five charges
● Review and integration of past and present guidance documents and research relevant to our work
● Creation of a Student Liaison position in collaboration with AMTAS and inclusion of the liaison in our data analysis process and meetings
● Intentional reach-outs to gather feedback from music therapy stakeholders
● Thematic analysis of feedback received on the two key questions, five charges, and solutions to guide our recommendations
● Compilation of your feedback into our draft recommendations report
Where We Are Now & Next Steps:
● We shared the rough draft of our recommendations with the BOD for feedback.
● We are currently integrating their feedback and finalizing our recommendations. ● Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to sharing these recommendations based on your feedback in the near future!
https://www.musictherapy.org/careers/21st_century_education/
2023 Regional Conference Update
Throughout our multi-year, iterative process, the AMTA Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists has integrated the feedback you provided via the three Google forms, multiple listening sessions, and various stakeholder meetings. We have also gathered research and resources from the music therapy literature and related professions to inform our work. While we recognize that many of you are waiting on our recommendations, we want to exercise due diligence in providing the most complete, relevant, and up-to-date recommendations possible. We are now in the process of gathering and synthesizing more information that will add further context and depth to our work. We will continue to keep you informed as we strive to move the profession forward together.
Image Description: “American Music Therapy Association” and logo next to “The Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists” in turquoise on a white background written above “2023 Regional Conferences: A Brief Update” in orange and “https://www.musictherapy.org/careers/21st_century_education/” in white on a purple background
Fall 2022 Update
Hi All! The Commission has been integrating the ideas you shared with us. We look forward to providing recommendations for the future of the profession soon along with opportunities for you to give feedback. Stay tuned!
A Word from your Commission
As we begin our third year of service on the Commission, we are grateful for the continued participation of the music therapy community through submissions of our Google form, attendance at our presentations, discussions at regional and national conferences, and direct messages and correspondence. Your generosity in sharing your time, energy, publications, and passion about the future of the profession is exciting. We are listening. The knowledge, insight, and wisdom that we, as music therapists, hold collectively will inform and guide our recommendations moving forward.
As a Commission, we bring many different experiences, ideas, and strengths to this work, and our shared experience thus far has been at times inspiring, overwhelming, honest, uncomfortable, and invigorating. We don't always agree and still regularly find consensus and understanding. The profound respect we hold for each other, and our overriding goal of serving the clients, helps to keep our deliberations focused on the future. We felt it was important at this time to offer this collaborative statement to honor both our unity of spirit and our diversity of identity and experience.
Listed below are the 12 members (11 voting members, 1 ex-officio) of the Commission, the ad hoc members, and the AMTAS liaison as well as their contact information. If you have questions or comments for the Commission, feel free to contact any member or the full group. You may also click on the hyperlinks on each name to learn more about individual members of the Commission.
Members of the Commission
The Google form has closed. Thank you from the Commission!
From the time we shared our initial Google form with the music therapy community in November 2019 through to the present, we have received close to 500 contributions. Whether you utilized the form itself or contributed to this process through social media posts, direct email, or participation at conference sessions or listening sessions, your voice has been heard as you shared your thoughts, suggestions, and visions for the future of music therapy with us. We are grateful for your dedication to working in partnership with the Commission to move the profession and the Association forward.
We first asked for and analyzed your feedback on two big questions:
- How do YOU envision music therapy evolving in the 21st century?
- What do you want this Commission to know?
We then analyzed your feedback on the five Charges from the AMTA BOD to the Commission:
- identify inconsistencies within degree programs to support clinical practice in a changing world;
- identify inconsistencies among and between National Roster and University Affiliated Internship programs;
- recommend changes to enhance current education and clinical training practices;
- support the ongoing efforts to increase state recognition of the MT-BC credential;
- and support efforts to encourage diversity and inclusion in the profession.
Finally, we asked for your focused suggestions on the charges before us:
- In creating more consistent educational outcomes, what is most important to you that we keep or add?
- In creating a more consistent clinical training model, what is most important to you that we keep or add?
- What have you done to help make our profession more financially sustainable for students, interns, and new professionals? What do you think we can or should do at the association level?
- What suggestions do you have for us as we seek to increase diversity in our profession?
- What suggestions do you have for us as we seek to increase state recognition of our profession?
- What suggestions do you have for ways we can better communicate with you during this process?
- Any other ideas you would like to share with the Commission?
As the Commission moves into our final analysis of feedback and identification of themes, we want to again express our appreciation for your continued engagement in this work that is crucial to the future of the profession and the clients we serve. We ask for your patience as we work to consider future recommendations and we want to assure you that we are still listening.
If you have additional input, suggestions, or questions for us, you can contact any member or members of the Commission through the emails listed above.
In service,
The Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists
History and Formation
Following the submission of the Final Report of the Master’s Level Entry (MLE) Subcommittee to the membership and the AMTA Board of Directors (BOD) in 2018, the BOD “cited inconclusive direction and fiduciary concern as the primary reasons to not support the Subcommittee recommendation of moving to a master’s level entry by 2030” (see complete 7/12/18 MLE Press Release here: https://www.musictherapy.org/masters_level_entry_press_release/).
However, the BOD overwhelmingly supported further exploration of current and future education and clinical training of music therapists, resulting in the following motion:
Whereas, there is lack of consensus (e.g., among Master’s Level Entry Subcommittee Members and the membership) for a move to Master’s Level Entry;
- Whereas, the evidence is inconclusive (e.g., Master’s Level Entry Subcommittee Final Report, two Master’s Level Entry surveys, feedback and analyses from Regional Town Hall/Concurrent Session Meetings, and Master’s Level Entry and State Recognition document) to support a move to Master’s Level Entry;
- Whereas, the Board has considered its fiduciary responsibilities and financial risk tolerance for the organization’s sustainability regarding a move to Master’s Level Entry;
- Whereas, the overall path (e.g., academic preparation, clinical training, and administrative support) is not sufficiently articulated for a move to Master’s Level Entry; and
- Whereas, the Master’s Level Entry Subcommittee has identified academic, clinical, and administrative recommendations;
The Board of Directors moves to create a Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists to:
- identify inconsistencies within degree programs to support clinical practice in a changing world;
- identify inconsistencies among and between National Roster and University Affiliated Internship programs;
- recommend changes to enhance current education and clinical training practices;
- support the ongoing efforts to increase state recognition of the MT-BC credential;
- and support efforts to encourage diversity and inclusion in the profession.
President Amber Weldon-Stephens appointed a Task Force from the AMTA Board of Directors for the purpose of establishing a 21st Century Music Therapists Commission in the fall of 2018. This Task Force sought and appointed 5 voting members to the Commission, with the remaining 6 voting positions being nominated and elected by the Assembly of Delegates. For additional details on this process, please see the 10/17/18 Press Release here: https://www.musictherapy.org/nominations_sought_new_commission_for_education_and_training_of_21st_century_music_therapists/
On January 1, 2019, the Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists officially began its work.
Commission Activities
2022 Regional Conferences
A brief update from the 21st Century Commission (February 2022) - The Commission has recently completed their final round of data analysis and is integrating your feedback, along with information from the literature and meetings with related stakeholders, as they formulate their recommendations for the AMTA Board of Directors. They plan to share a more detailed update at the AMTA annual conference in October and disseminate widely. You can find information regarding the Commission's activities prior to and during 2021, along with contact information should you wish to share feedback or input, on this webpage.
January – December 2021
The Commission meets at least monthly via videoconference and conducts extensive work online. Highlights over the past year include:
- We presented concurrent sessions at all 2021 regional conferences (SER, GLR/MWR joint conference, WRAMTA, MAR and SWAMTA) along with a stand-alone presentation for NER as they did not host a spring conference.
- Throughout April, we held 4 Listening Sessions (1 each for Students, Clinicians, Educators, and Affinity Group Members), with a total of 250 registrants for these sessions.
- We continued to gather information from multiple constituents/stakeholders to direct our work, including through our Google form on the Commission page on the AMTA website (https://www.musictherapy.org/careers/21st_century_education/). The final round of questions on the form focused on seeking solutions (In creating more consistent educational outcomes, what is most important to you that we keep or add? In creating a more consistent clinical training model, what is most important to you that we keep or add? What have you done to help make our profession more financially sustainable for students, interns, and new professionals? What do you think we can or should do at the association level? What suggestions do you have for us as we seek to increase diversity in our profession? What suggestions do you have for ways we can better communicate with you during this process? Any other ideas you would like to share with the Commission?). The form closed on July 1, 2021. The Commission is in the process of completing data coding and thematic analysis for this final round of questions.
- We are undertaking a comprehensive collection and review of AMTA degree programs and curricula to identify inconsistencies.
- We have continued to correspond and meet with key stakeholders. Included among these were: researchers regarding the topics of identity, curriculum development, and workforce analysis; representatives from the CBMT Committees and Board; the Competency Review Task Force; a NASM reviewer; the members of the Unification Commission; and the Executive Director of NASM.
- We are continuing to intensively examine our charges, contributing to reflections documents and engaging in discussions related to future recommendations.
- We are exploring the possibility of participating in training through the Intercultural Development Inventory (https://idiinventory.com/).
- We are awaiting further details on how the Commission will collaborate and contribute to the Strategic Planning work that AMTA will be undertaking.
2020 National Conference
On November 22, 2020, members of the Commission presented at the AMTA online national conference. They reviewed the history of the Commission and the themes that emerged from the feedback received on the two key questions and shared emerging themes related to the Commission’s five charges listed above. You can watch or listen to the Commission’s presentation below and access the transcript here and a .pdf document of the slides here. You can also access a one page summary of emerging themes here. Please email Jennifer Hicks, one of the Commission co-chairs, at jhicks@joyfulnoisesllc.com if you need a more accessible format for any of these documents.
2020 Regional Conferences
During the spring and summer of 2020, members of the Commission presented at all seven regional conferences, either in person or online. They shared some of the history of the Commission as well as the themes that emerged from the feedback received on the two key questions:
- How do YOU envision music therapy evolving in the 21st century?
- What do you want this Commission to know?
You can watch the Commission’s presentation (with closed captioning) below and access the transcript here.
January – June 2020
The Commission meets at least monthly via videoconference (often more frequently), communicates almost daily via Slack, and conducts extensive work online. Highlights in the first half of 2020 include:
- Created a Commission Student Liaison position. In consultation with the AMTAS Board, it was determined that the President of AMTAS will fulfill these duties each year. For 2020, we welcomed AMTAS President Fiona Riso to this position.
- Continued to promote our Google form seeking feedback on our 2 big questions and 5 charges. We continue to direct people to this form during meetings and presentations, in correspondence, on regional websites, and on social media.
- Met with Ken Aigen and Bryan Hunter on unification and lessons learned.
- Completed extensive work by two data analysis sub-groups of the Commission to code data collected in response to our two big questions (how do YOU envision music therapy evolving in the 21st century; what do you want this Commission to know).
- Included themes that emerged from the data coding as part of our regional conference presentation, in person for the GLR and SER conferences and online for the MWR, WR, MAR, and NER conferences. Final online presentation scheduled for SWR conference in July.
- Held focus meetings with APAC, AIAC, CRTF, and DEI.
July – December 2019
The Commission meets at least monthly via videoconference and conducts extensive work online. Highlights since their retreat in July include:
Development of strategies to gather information from music therapy professionals and students to direct our work
- Google form with corresponding QR code to direct individuals to that form
- Direct email to the CBMT mailing list
- Posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms
- Postings on state and regional newsletters and websites as appropriate
- Presence at the 2019 AMTA national conference (see details below) and the upcoming 2020 AMTA regional conferences
2019 National Conference
- The Commission held a 4-hour meeting at the conference.
- We included an insert in the registration materials informing attendees of our charges and ways to be a part of our work.
- We addressed attendees at a meeting of the Assembly of Delegates as well as at AMTA and AMTAS Business Meetings.
- We sought out further information related to our charges through intentional attendance at various CMTE and concurrent sessions throughout the conference.
- We had a booth near the AMTA Village in the Exhibit Hall where attendees were able to share their responses on our Google form and dialogue with members of the Commission regarding any other feedback or questions.
Future Plans
- Continuing to reach out to the MT community for input, including collaboration with AMTAS to create a Student Liaison position
- Continuing to review guidance documents and relevant literature
- Prioritizing lists of individuals and groups with whom we want to meet
- Collecting, organizing, and analyzing responses from our Google form
- Creating a timeline and roadmap to guide our work moving forward
- Preparing concurrent session materials for all 2020 regional conferences
Commission Retreat - July 2019
The Commission held a retreat from July 21-24, 2019 in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. This first in-person meeting of the Commission included intensive review and consideration of the Charge to the Commission, development of various communication platforms for the community, and creation of our next steps in gathering information.
The Commission will also be meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon at the annual AMTA conference in Minneapolis, MN.
January – June 2019
The Commission has met regularly via video conference since the start of the year. To date, Commission members have:
- organized the form and functions of the Commission (such as electing Co-Chairs, creating an organizational system in Drive, establishing Commission subcommittees for education and clinical training)
- held focused discussions on topics of identity, education, clinical training, and musicianship
- contributed to a variety of ‘reflections’ documents, including one for each of the five points in our Charge and one for each of the three points defining the 21st century music therapist (taken from the MLE Subcommittee Final Report, Part 1)
- reviewed related historical documents as well as current AMTA and CBMT guidance documents
8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1000 | Silver Spring MD 20910 | Phone: 301.589.3300 | Fax: 301.589.5175