One fact about working in the field of music therapy: you have to explain what music therapy is a lot. I work in a hospital which drastically increases the amount of explaining compared to all other workplace options. Hospitals have a revolving door of patients, family members, visitors and staff. Not only that, but music therapy is usually in every unit of the hospital so music therapy techniques may differ…. and the music therapist will need to be adept at knowing the difference and communicating the pertinent information.

Some common questions/comments I get from patients are:

• What is music therapy?
• Do you know (insert song title here)?
• I’m having pain right now, I don’t think you could help me.
• What instruments do you play?
• What? You want ME to play an instrument?
• Where else do you volunteer?

Common questions/comments I get from co-workers are:

• So what do you do?
• Room # would really appreciate some music right now.
• Are you here to play me a song?
• I want your job because you make people happy all day.
• You get paid to do this?

I’ve been a music therapist since 2003 and have experienced the ebb and flow of work burnout. I believe that my level of advocacy fatigue contributes to my level of burn out. High level of advocacy fatigue = unhappy music therapist. The truth is it doesn’t really bother me when people ask about music therapy because it’s better that someone ask rather than not ask. But, when I’ve had a tough day it DOES bother me to hear those questions. Mostly because they’re always the same questions and redundancy is sometimes annoying.

So, here are some facts to help offset Advocacy Fatigue:

Reality check: When someone asks a question it’s because they are interested and want to know more. You couldn’t ask for a more attentive audience. In my daily work life I’m asked ‘What is music therapy?’ by about 80% of the patients I meet. It’s way better to be asked 80% of the time than 20% of the time… right?!?!

Understand that when working with colleagues it’s not EDUCATING; it’s COMMUNICATING. When I have an ‘educator’ type of hat on with colleagues it creates a teacher-student relationship in my head. That’s the wrong kind of relationship… I’m not going to test their knowledge or expect colleagues to recite music therapy facts. We work together for the betterment of the patient… so we need to have a relationship that honors an even flow of communication. Sure we may not agree, but that isn’t always because the other person doesn’t ‘get’ music therapy, it could be because their expertise/schooling is telling them something… it could be that the music therapist doesn’t ‘get’ what they are saying. Whatever the situation we need to be talking to each other and working together.

Maybe it’s you: If people are asking me questions that bother me, then something may be wrong with me. Maybe it’s a short-term thing like just having a bad day. Maybe it’s a bigger problem like having some other issues at home/work/etc that are affecting me at work. No matter the reason, how can I ethically enter into a session with a patient when I’m in that place? My baggage can’t enter the session. It’s not fair or right. There is always 5 minutes in the day to chill out AND there is always time during professional supervision to talk about this… after all, that’s what professional supervision is all about.

What are your thoughts about Advocacy Fatigue?

How do you cope with Advocacy Fatigue?

*****

From CBMT / AMTA:

Introduction: Advocacy –> Recognition –> Access

Since 2005, the American Music Therapy Association and the Certification Board for Music Therapists have collaborated on a State Recognition Operational Plan. The primary purpose of this Plan is to get music therapy and our MT-BC credential recognized by individual states so that citizens can more easily access our services. The AMTA Government Relations staff and CBMT Regulatory Affairs staff provide guidance and technical support to state task forces throughout the country as they work towards state recognition. To date, their work has resulted in 35 active state task forces, 2 licensure bills passed in 2011, and an estimated 10 bills being filed in 2012 that seek to create either a music therapy registry or license for music therapy. This month, our focus is on YOU and on getting you excited about advocacy.

{ 4 comments }