Welcome to the final post in my Music Therapy 101 for the Newly Diagnosed s eries! While 
this is my last planned post on the topic, I want to answer YOUR questions, so don’t hesitate to e-mail me or comment with your questions and thoughts. You might even inspire another post!
Once you have found your music therapist, you might ask yourself what you have to expect from them, and from the treatment they provide.
And you know what? That is a completely logical question! Parents who ask questions about their child’s treatment are (to me) the best prepared to deal with whatever hurdles come their way.
So what can you expect from your music therapist?
While each of us are different in the way we run our businesses, document, and the methods we follow in providing services, there are a few things that every music therapist should be doing when they work with you. If they aren’t, that is a red flag in their qualifications and you might want to further explore their history with the Certification Board for Music Therapists .
Assessment: When providing therapy, any and every therapist should have an assessment period where they get to know the child and learn how to work with them. More than likely, this will be mentioned when you first speak with your music therapist about beginning treatment. Depending on the therapist, you may receive a copy of this assessment once it is completed, or it may pass on to a treatment team or other group of professionals working with your child. Again, this depends on the therapist, as well as the treatment setting.
Your job? Make sure that assessment is happening.
Goals: The entire end point of an assessment is so that the therapist can set goals for the child to meet. If the therapist didn’t complete an assessment, they cannot set goals that are individualized to your child. If the therapist completed an assessment but did not create goals, then you have no method in which to judge how the therapy is going.
Goals are the mile markers in your child’s treatment. They help you to understand the direction your child is heading, but most importantly, they help the therapist to pinpoint exactly what they are doing works and doesn’t work.
Updates or Progress Notes: You have a right to know how things are going in your child’s treatment. Your therapist should provide you with periodic updates about how things are going, and it should be in language you can understand. If your therapist didn’t do an assessment or set goals, these progress notes wouldn’t be able to happen in the manner they should.
Customer Service: So this isn’t technically a standard that we are required to adhere to, but it should also have to go without saying. You should be comfortable with your child’s music therapist. You should feel like you can express concerns to them and have action taken. Questions should be answered and not ignored, business should be conducted civilly. You wouldn’t continue going to a restaurant with bad service, so why would you bring your child to a therapist with bad service?
These are just a few things that you should, without a doubt, be receiving from your music therapist. What are some of the things on your list of must haves? Leave a comment below to tell me!
Welcome to the final post in my Music Therapy 101 for the Newly Diagnosed s eries! While
this is my last planned post on the topic, I want to answer YOUR questions, so don’t hesitate to e-mail me or comment with your questions and thoughts. You might even inspire another post!
Once you have found your music therapist, you might ask yourself what you have to expect from them, and from the treatment they provide.
And you know what? That is a completely logical question! Parents who ask questions about their child’s treatment are (to me) the best prepared to deal with whatever hurdles come their way.
So what can you expect from your music therapist?
While each of us are different in the way we run our businesses, document, and the methods we follow in providing services, there are a few things that every music therapist should be doing when they work with you. If they aren’t, that is a red flag in their qualifications and you might want to further explore their history with the Certification Board for Music Therapists .
Assessment: When providing therapy, any and every therapist should have an assessment period where they get to know the child and learn how to work with them. More than likely, this will be mentioned when you first speak with your music therapist about beginning treatment. Depending on the therapist, you may receive a copy of this assessment once it is completed, or it may pass on to a treatment team or other group of professionals working with your child. Again, this depends on the therapist, as well as the treatment setting.
Your job? Make sure that assessment is happening.
Goals: The entire end point of an assessment is so that the therapist can set goals for the child to meet. If the therapist didn’t complete an assessment, they cannot set goals that are individualized to your child. If the therapist completed an assessment but did not create goals, then you have no method in which to judge how the therapy is going.
Goals are the mile markers in your child’s treatment. They help you to understand the direction your child is heading, but most importantly, they help the therapist to pinpoint exactly what they are doing works and doesn’t work.
Updates or Progress Notes: You have a right to know how things are going in your child’s treatment. Your therapist should provide you with periodic updates about how things are going, and it should be in language you can understand. If your therapist didn’t do an assessment or set goals, these progress notes wouldn’t be able to happen in the manner they should.
Customer Service: So this isn’t technically a standard that we are required to adhere to, but it should also have to go without saying. You should be comfortable with your child’s music therapist. You should feel like you can express concerns to them and have action taken. Questions should be answered and not ignored, business should be conducted civilly. You wouldn’t continue going to a restaurant with bad service, so why would you bring your child to a therapist with bad service?
These are just a few things that you should, without a doubt, be receiving from your music therapist. What are some of the things on your list of must haves? Leave a comment below to tell me!