I began my last post with the question “What makes some music therapists successful while others are struggling to get enough income to live on?” (Read that post here). The simple answer is that music therapists have to be passionate about music, but they also need to be passionate about the practice of music therapy.
Once the education is complete and the MT-BC designation has been earned, it is time to go to work. Times have changed so much since I completed my training and these days there are a multitude of employment opportunities in the field of music therapy. Music therapists can work in special education programs, hospitals, senior centers, day programs, skilled nursing and rehab facilities either as an employee or independent contractor.
This is the best part of being a music therapist. When you work with clients, you experience first-hand, the power of music to create positive changes physically, emotionally, cognitively, neurologically and physiologically. Most of the clients love participating in music therapy and it is fun and rewarding for everyone.
There are some other things to consider though. Whatever group or population you will be serving, you need to have instruments, which may or may not be provided by your employer, and unless you work in a clinic, be prepared to have days where you feel like a pack mule, loaded down with guitar, keyboard, rhythm instruments and drums that you carry with you so that you can serve the differing needs of multiple clients. There will be times when you may not feel good, or creative, or up to facing the next difficult client, but you will have to work through it anyway. You will also need to be able to spend the majority of your time singing and making music with those clients, and then you will get to document the outcomes of each therapy session. There may also be a lot of driving if you go to multiple locations. I hope by now you are getting the message that passion for music therapy is important.
Come back next week when I will talk about being a music therapy entrepreneur, also known as a music therapy business owner, and in two weeks, I will tell about my journey as a music therapist.