Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

I am currently serving as the President of the American Music Therapy Association. As the United States is quite a large country, our association, while it functions nationally, is also divided into 7 regions. These regions have their own annual regional conferences in the spring. The AMTA regions are New England (where I live), Mid Atlantic, Southeastern, Midwestern, Great Lakes, Southwestern and Western. Part of my presidential duties is to travel to these various regions and attend the regional conferences.

Visiting these various regions has given me new respect and a deeper appreciation for the music therapists across the country. I was impressed by the diversity of approaches and models, the respect for different ways of working and the drive to continue to learn about music therapy.

My first visit was to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the edge of Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful city with a great historic district (ok, so historic places in the US are not quite as old as historic areas in other parts of the world…) I spent time with wonderful music therapists and enjoyed authentic German food. The therapists there are clearly dedicated and committed to their work. I attended some inspiring conference presentations and learned quite a bit about the history of music therapy in this region.

A week later I headed to Long Island, New York and was squarely back in the hustle and bustle of a large and face paced city. I took part in a wonderful research symposium that brought together researchers from a variety of traditions. It was great to be part of a group sharing different ideas and different ways of looking at research questions. Again, I was inspired by the dedication of the therapists I met.

Later that weekend I headed across the country to Sacramento, California where I enjoyed warm summer like weather. Again, the music therapists presented top notch presentations and I had a great time participating in the conference and learning about the history of the region!

The following weekend took me first to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was great to be there enjoying the warm spring weather and to hear from music therapists who had been in OKC 10 years earlier when the Oklahoma City Bombing had occurred. I also had the treat of having tea with Don Michel - a real music therapy pioneer in the US.

I then headed north to Kansas City, the heartland of America, where the weather was spring like and the therapists were again inspiring. I also met a new colleague from Mexico who is in a doctoral program there. Needless to say I have asked her to write something for a future issue of voices!

The next day it was off to Mt. Snow, Vermont - which undoubtedly owes its name to its ability to still have a huge amount of snow in April! I only arrived there in time for the Saturday night cabaret and though I was chilled to the bone I had a wonderful time dancing and singing with my friends and colleagues. It was great to end my travels back in my own region.

So this has led me to reflect on the fact that although the different parts of the US look very different there are many similarities. I visited big cities, small cities, resorts, rural areas, encountered summer weather, spring weather and winter weather all in only a few weeks time. Yet, everywhere I went I met dedicated music therapists and witnessed a wide variety of music therapy models and approaches. I am really grateful for this opportunity to get to know the therapists across the regions and I appreciate and value the very diverse nature of music therapy in this country.

How to cite this page

Forinash, Michelle (2005). Music Therapy Throughout the US. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=fortnightly-columns/2005-music-therapy-throughout-us