The Best of Both Worlds

On Friday I will have the distinct pleasure of performing with the Drury University Wind Symphony at the Missouri Music Educators Association annual convention. Being around that many music educators always gets me thinking about the differences and similarities between music therapists and music educators. 

Music therapists are uniquely sandwiched between the world of musicians and the world of medical professionals. 

Many times, our colleagues in music and our colleagues in medicine are equally mystified by our profession because we are both fully musical and fully clinical.  We get the best of both worlds.

The clinical nature of our work dictates our use of music, and our musicianship enables our unique approach to clinical issues. 

Our music educator friends may shake their heads in disbelief when we describe some of the non-traditional instruments or adapted music techniques we use to enable our patients and clients to make music, or the ways we might abruptly change the key or tempo within a song to adapt to our patients changing clinical needs in the moment. 

In other words, to a musician, my work may seem highly clinical. 

Similarly, the colleagues who are physicians, nurses, social workers, and other allied health therapists are frequently lost when we discuss manipulating musical elements to achieve clinical outcomes. They may not understand why I am transposing the key of a song as I keep an eye on a patient's respiration rate, or why I may choose one guitar accompaniment over another, or none at all, and what relevance that has to the patient's alertness and reality orientation. 

To a clinician, my work may seem overly musical.

It is always my responsibility and joy to educate my colleagues on either side about music therapy.

I am a musician.

I am therapist. 

My work is fully musical.

It is fully clinical. 

I am a music therapist and I get the best of both worlds.