3 Surprising Ways My E-book Advocated For Music Therapy

• This post is our contribution to the 2016 AMTA/CBMT Social Media Advocacy Project. Last year, we talked about where you can share your Music Therapy qualities. This year, the focus is to explore the 3 roles that often pop up in successful advocacy teams: Connectors, Reflectors, and Directors.

When I (Rachel) wrote my first e-book in 2011, my goal was to share the songs and interventions that were successful with my own clients, with other music therapists. Thankfully, the e-book did just that! But I was surprised to discover that my e-book also advocated for music therapy in other ways by acting as a CONNECTOR.

Here’s how my e-book advocated for music therapy:

1. It connected with people I didn’t expect – Originally, I thought music therapists would find the information useful. But, after I posted it on Pinterest, I quickly received responses from pediatric clinics, educators, e-book authors and other healthcare professionals around the world.
2. It enhanced the music therapy experience for A LOT clients – Every music therapist who implemented the information in my e-book shared it with their clients. I know that was part of my main goal, but the surprising part was the AMOUNT of clients who were touched by my information. It’s not uncommon for one music therapist to have a caseload of multiple classrooms of children and if you have even 50 music therapists using the resources provided by one e-book, it goes on to touch thousands of children. Amazing!
3. It fostered interdisciplinary relationships – A speech-language pathologist who purchased my e-book contacted me, saying how much she learned about what a music therapist is/does.  She went on to propose that the two of us team up and collaborate on another e-book, focusing on speech and language goals…and Listen, Speak, Sing was created!

Now, we’d love to hear YOUR story and how you have, or want to connect through e-book writing as a form of advocating for the music therapy over on our Facebook page. 

Also, do you work with children and need some resources? Check out our Children’s Section!