While a sequential step process is outlined above, multicultural training needs to be non-sequential. Instead of thinking about it linearly or in a sequence, music therapists need to be responsible in revisiting these aspects of multicultural training. As humans we constantly grow and change, and so understanding the self needs to be revisited often. I think the same changing nature of societal structures and cultures also need to be considered in this way as well, especially with the consideration of globalization (Swamy, 2014). In fact, Ratts and Pederson (2014) discussed further about the influence that globalization has on multicultural competency. They focused on global context and technology, such as the internet and social media. We can now connect to people in other regions of the world within a matter of minutes or seconds.

While our culture is a reflection of our global context, it is also within each of us (Ratts & Pederson, 2014). Today, more emphasis must be placed on the “self-examination” of the therapist and their multicultural identity that includes race, class, ethnicity, ability, religion, gender, and sexual orientation (Mahoney, 2015, p. 1). The self is created from these multiple identities and each identity intersects with another creating what we call intersectionality (Hadley, 2013). Intersectionality goes against the neo-colonial music therapy idea of homogenous groups and that individuals are the same within one identity (Comte, 2016).

It is within this examination of ourselves that we begin to have a new awareness for multicultural competency (Ratts & Pederson, 2014). Training of music therapy students at the institutional level may only inform them about other cultures with no reference to their own. From this, students may face difficulty developing effective experiences for their clients or advanced competency. The connection between coursework and cultural identity may not be realized in order to translate to the music therapy session. Because music therapists may have only one session with someone from a different culture, it is important that the music therapist understand their cultural identity in order to develop rapid rapport (Donley, 2017; Orozco et al., 2014). Otherwise, the opportunity for a second session is diminished.

Music therapists also need to examine their race and views on race to learn how they contribute to the therapeutic relationship (Mahoney, 2015). According to Bryson (2016) and Tatum (2003), when students are given an opportunity to describe their identity, White students will name other identifiers that do not involve race. This is different from minority students. White people are given safety and comfort in our society unlike minority groups (Yancy, 2015). Self-exploration of White privilege is a continuous process, and the music therapy field could benefit from this exploration (Hadley, 2013; Hadley & Norris, 2016). Music therapists may experience a relearning or reexamining of values and beliefs that have attributed to their cultural identity, interactions with others, and interactions with their environment (Hadley & Norris, 2016; Yancy, 2015). The process can be mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. Music therapists may argue that this process is unnecessary, “if music therapists practice empathically and sensitively” (Brown, 2002, p. 1). As we encourage our clients to move towards change, we also need to move in a similar direction despite any discomfort involved (Arredondo, 1994). Development requires change, and “change is core to our professional work” (1994, p. 308–309).

The music therapy community likely feels most confident in this area of multicultural training. In a survey study by Darrow and Molloy (1998), 75 percent of music therapists indicated they knew multicultural music generally and in relation to their clients. It is uncertain how music therapy students and professionals learn about cultures and their music in the university setting in the United States, Australia, and other schools internationally, such as in Norway. Each country has different accreditation methods for its music therapy degree programs (Australian Music Therapy Association, 2012; Darrow & Molloy, 1998; European Consortium for Art Therapies Education, 2017). Some may offer more flexibility within the curriculum (Australian Music Therapy Association, 2012).

Previously, some claimed “a music therapist’s university education cannot be considered complete without a required course in world music or ethnomusicology,” (Moreno, 1988, p. 20) but now multicultural counseling also needs to be considered (Bradt, 1997; Darrow & Molloy, 1998; Toppozada, 1995). Already, music therapy students are required to complete extensive coursework, and music therapy faculty struggle for a lack of personnel or their experience in teaching multicultural topics (Toppozada, 1995). Internationally, some music therapy programs stated that multicultural issues were not currently significant in the field (Brown, 2002). International travel can also be fruitful to learn about one’s worldview, other cultures, and multicultural issues. Local cultural events can also be considered (Swamy, 2014).

According to Kolb (2014), the founder of experiential learning theory, experiential learning has been defined in many ways making the meaning unclear and ambiguous to researchers and educators. Fenwick (2000) believed that this ambiguity surrounding the definition was due to the difficulty in separating the term from formal education practice. Among its many definitions, experiential learning has been defined as “a particular form of learning from life experience; often contrasted with lecture and classroom learning” (2014, para. 2). Kolb understood experiential learning differently as a holistic process that one could use to relate to all aspects of their life. While it is possible to view experiential learning as occurring in formal and informal learning environments, I want to focus on experiential learning as it includes informal learning environments. Currently, the literature about multicultural experiential learning is lacking in music therapy and few in other professions, such as counseling.

Arthur and Achenbach (2002; Achenbach & Arthur, 2002) explored the impact of experiential learning in cross-cultural training, counseling, and their multicultural counseling curriculum. One of the experiential learning exercises they discussed was BAFA BAFA, which explores culture shock (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). In BAFA BAFA, students are separated into two groups that represent two imaginary cultures (Bruschke, Gartner, & Seiter, 1993; Gannon & Poon, 1997). Each group is given information about the culture they role-play. After engaging with members from their cultural group, members are asked to exchange cultural ideas with the second group. Two studies on BAFA BAFA found strikingly different results. Bruschke et al. (1993) found that BAFA BAFA encouraged ethnocentrism in students while Gannon and Poon (1997) found that the experience heightened students’ multicultural awareness. Arthur and Achenbach (2002) also mentioned a second experiential tool and card game called Barnga, which is “designed to reflect cultural clashes and communication barriers that occur in real life situations” (p. 3; Steinwachs, 1990). Achenbach and Arthur (2002) utilized Barnga to study how experiential learning affected students’ multicultural awareness, the students’ process of multicultural learning, the translation of experiential learning to counseling practice, and its potential to improve the university curriculum in counseling programs. Like BAFA BAFA, Barnga gives students the opportunity to learn about culture shock. Students in the experience assume that everyone is playing using the same instructions, but the instructions vary slightly among participants. Through the varying rules, students learn to navigate different cultural dynamics. Using grounded theory, Achenbach and Arthur recruited and retained 19 participants over the three stages of the study: the simulation exercise, individual interviews, and focus groups. Three cultural schemas were identified in the results including the cultural condition or environment, cultural other, and cultural self, which were found to promote student understanding and growth in cultural empathy.

Kim and Lyons (2003) discussed experiential learning in multicultural counseling with a greater emphasis on games and gaming. These games included Multicultural Jeopardy; Cultural Bingo; and Step Forward, Step Back. In Step Forward, Step Back, students are asked to move forward or back according to their responses to statements about privilege (Kim & Lyons, 2003). In this experience, students are given a piece of paper with a cultural identity different from their own, and their responses are based on this cultural identity. Students may also respond based on their own cultural identity. More recently, Step Forward, Step Back has been known as a Privilege Walk (Ngoasheng & Gachago, 2017). Teachers may modify the Privilege Walk in multiple ways. The teachers can direct statements about cultural identity or the students’ cultural identity. Instead of moving forward and backward, teachers can also instruct students to move only forward or only backward. These experiences assist students in seeing privilege and disadvantages from their own and others’ perspectives. They are especially powerful. Students may feel guilt or shame as their privilege and disadvantages are vividly brought to the forefront. Aspects of these experiences, such as the size of the steps taken can lead students to new awareness and understanding. In another example of experiential learning, indirect care staff at a hospital participated as a patient in the hospital for a day to better understand inpatient experiences (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). Direct care staff and indirect care staff had mixed reviews about the experience. Direct care staff held more negative views while observing others participate, and indirect staff that participated felt they benefited from the experience.

Role-playing may be important for learning and professional development, such as in supervision, but,role-playing a cultural group or population must be avoided (Stige, 2001). Role-playing a group or population may encourage oppression toward groups that the neo-colonial music therapist labels as homogenous (Comte, 2016). Although experiential learning may offer benefits to its participants, faculty need to carefully and cautiously incorporate this tool into the university curriculum. Firstly, educators need to understand how experiential learning meets the training needs of participants (Arthur & Achenbach, 2002). Educators also need to create safe spaces for participants to identify and explore thoughts and emotions. For these reasons and based on my previous experience with experiential learning, I think the examples below align more closely with this paper’s ideas of multicultural experiential learning and the music therapy profession.

The music therapy field and clients of music therapists will continue to benefit from music therapists’ professional development in multicultural competence as long as music therapists continue to pursue those opportunities. According to Arthur and Achenbach (2002), students who discontinued practice in multicultural competence were more likely to regress to their innate cultural beliefs. Students and professionals need to have a strong initiative to continue their practice in multicultural training and learning. Multicultural learning experiences may open possibilities for music therapists in the majority in any context to gain understanding about the perspectives of minorities.

At this time, there are only a few articles about experiential learning in the music therapy literature (Dileo, 2000; Langdon, 2001; Lindvang, 2013; Murphy, 2007; Murphy & Wheeler, 2005; Wigram, 1996). None of these mentions experiential learning theory in conjunction with multicultural issues (Dileo, 2000). Instead, they focus on music therapy training overall and personal therapy and self-care (Langdon, 2001 ; Lindvang, 2013 ; Murphy, 2007 ; Murphy & Wheeler, 2005 ; Wigram, 1996).

Faculty may implement a holistic approach, as described by Kolb (2014), throughout the curriculum for students. A professional trained in multicultural counseling would be ideal since they have participated in group processes and may also have experience in leading groups towards this skill set. A faculty member with training in world music or ethnic studies may lack this skill for facilitating difficult dialogues. Faculty members with limited experience need to seek guidance and collaboration with other members at their institutions. Faculty members may not feel qualified to implement this in their programs alone (Toppozada, 1995).

Beyond graduation, interns and early career professionals can be subjected to multicultural learning in combination with other client needs at internship and during clinical training. While these formal settings can include multicultural experiences, they lack an opportunity for isolated acquisition of these skills. Isolated learning concentrates on one application at a time and simplifies the process. Music therapists must consider the importance of learning these skills alone before integrating them into music therapy practice. For example, a great musician and music therapist often practices their music by isolating the voice, guitar, piano, etc., before integrating instruments together. In this same way, the music therapist must isolate multicultural learning from their clinical work in order to proceed toward multicultural competence.

I am a White female Christian cisgender heterosexual abled-bodied music therapist who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. Financially, I felt comfortable and at ease with what my White parents were able to provide. I earned an undergraduate degree in Music Performance at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and my graduate degree in Music Therapy from Appalachian State University. I consider myself fierce, blunt, honest, and resilient about multicultural issues in the field of music therapy.

Appalachian State University is in rural Boone, North Carolina. In the 2016 American Community Survey, 92.9% of the population was White according to the United States Census Bureau (2016). (2016). Blacks and African Americans consisted of 2.3%, Hispanics and Latinos 2.6%, American Indians 0.5%, and Asians 1.5% of the population there. The lack of diversity was shocking in Boone. I remember describing my new community as a utopia as depicted in Lost Horizon, because of the low crime rate. Unconsciously and regrettably, I associated this low crime rate with a lack of diversity based on my prejudice towards Blacks that I learned from my family, friends, and the media.

Despite these statistics, there was a good representation of individuals in my class who identified within various races, genders, and sexual orientations. This included my professor, a Black male. With his instruction, I began to challenge and unlearn my racism, prejudices, and judgments of Black people and other minority groups. While discussion with a diverse group of peers was an important part of the course, I felt unhinged and anxious about the tasks ¹ presented to us by my professor. I often sat numb hoping my professor would reveal how to complete the assignments. I was certain that the best result was to reach the outcome without moving through the process. It took a lot of courage to enter this process, for each task where it seemed all new and unmapped territory. Each task focused on a division of identity including socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. In the process, I was most surprised by my family’s covert communication to construct barriers to change. My beliefs on multicultural issues were shifting, but my family and friends’ beliefs on the same issues remained the same.