MAKE THE CHANGE: CHOOSE A CAREER IN MUSIC THERAPY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Music Therapy New Zealand presents
MUSIC THERAPY WEEK 2022 - MAKE THE CHANGE
Choose a career in Music Therapy and Make a Difference
November 14 - 20
https://www.musictherapy.org.nz/
Music Therapy New Zealand (MThNZ) is thrilled to announce this year’s Music Therapy Week, with a kaupapa of drawing people’s attention to the profession and recruiting new Music Therapists. Celebrating the hard work of Aotearoa’s Music Therapists from November 14 - 20, this year is running slightly differently to previous weeks. This year’s theme is Make the Change, with MThNZ wanting to bring awareness to what music therapy is and why more people should choose it as a career. Music therapy is a growing profession with a significant demand for more therapists in Aotearoa, especially in regional and suburban areas. MThNZ's Make the Change theme hopes to inspire more people to explore the potential of music therapy as a viable and fulfilling profession.
“It is an exciting time for music therapy in New Zealand, and we are at a pivotal point in growing our profession exponentially. The number of NZ Registered Music Therapists is growing, but not enough to meet the demand of our communities. Over the past 50 years, the efforts of those to lobby and advocate for our profession is paying off and we are receiving weekly enquiries for NZ Registered and qualified Music Therapists across the country. Particularly outside of the centres of Auckland and Wellington regions. It is with that we ask musicians, students and other professionals to think about making a change. To consider a rewarding, fulfilling and sustainable career as a NZ Registered Music Therapist. Make the change, and make a difference to people’s lives through music”
- says Linda Webb, MThNZ President and Helen Dowthwaite, MThNZ Executive Officer.
What's On in Music Therapy Week 2022:
Interviews
For Music Therapy Week 2022 there will be the opportunity to interview registered Music Therapists around Aotearoa who can speak passionately as to why music therapy is a gratifying career choice, how it helps communities across the country, and how people can train to become Music Therapists.
There are already several Music Therapists from different backgrounds available, who can help anyone curious to make an informed decision on choosing Music Therapy as a career. Some of these Music Therapists include Christchurch based Kimberly Wade and Hawke’s Bay based Ella Polczyk-Przybyla. See more information on Kimberly and Ella at the end of this release.
Children's Book
This year, MThNZ is delighted to be working with Grace Wyatt and Michelle Peat, the hardworking team behind the children’s book Finding Grandpa’s Song. The story follows Ruby and her Grandpa as he moves in with her family. Grandpa sometimes forgets things but Ruby loves her Grandpa and works out a way to help him through music.
Written by Waikato based Wyatt, Finding Grandpa’s Song comes from her true experience when she saw the positive effect of music on an ill loved one. This is the second children’s book from illustrator and author, Peat, her first being The Rascally Stars. Earlier in 2022 Peat released her first art journal for teenagers, Make a Splash, after being disappointed by the lack of support her daughter had around her individuality, creativity, and mental health. Finding Grandpa’s Song is designed for children aged 7 to 10 to help them understand dementia and learn about how helpful music can be for those affected by it. Wyatt and Peat are both available to be interviewed on this experience.
ABOUT MUSIC THERAPY
Music therapy is a practice which uses music to assist the health and personal growth of people with identified needs. To become a NZ Registered Music Therapist one must have a Masters of Music Therapy which can be obtained through studying at Victoria University of Wellington (or overseas equivalent). Music therapists are highly skilled to work with a diverse range of people, experiences, and conditions meaning they must also be adaptable.
Who can Music Therapy support?
The versatility of music therapy as a profession, allows the practice to be applied in a variety of contexts such as: schools; community spaces; hospitals; care and supported living facilities; prisons; and within private practices, to support the treatment of a huge range of conditions such as: dementia; psychosis; depression and anxiety.
Music therapy is also helpful for those with neuro-divergent conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, enabling a different channel of communication. In Aotearoa, music therapy is increasingly being used to assist in general wellbeing, as well as providing support for those living through the challenges of trauma, separation, grief, and end-of-life care.
Goals in Music Therapy
Employing a Registered Music Therapist ensures music is used within a therapeutic framework to support the development of joint musical experiences and work towards specific non-musical goals which can have a communication, cognitive, physical, social and/or emotional focus.
Music Therapy Week
Music Therapy Week is the chance to celebrate Aotearoa’s hard working Music Therapists as well as their successes with this unique practice in communities across Aotearoa. MThNZ hopes that this year’s Music Therapy Week will draw attention to Aotearoa’s need for more Music Therapists outside of the country's larger centres, and spread awareness of the good music therapy can do for people's lives.
Music Therapy New Zealand is proud to be a member of Allied Health Aotearoa NZ (AHANZ) and is grateful for all of their supporters and members.
https://www.musictherapy.org.nz/