CHANGE AND PERMANENCE*
ERWIN H. SCHNEIDER
The Ohio
c HANGE,, in several dimensions, has been
a part of our Association from its very be­
ginning. We have been fortunate, indeed, in
that our officers and Executive Committee
members generally have been forward-looking
persons who would anticipate revisions and
change in our operations and concepts as
needed for the steady growth of the Associa­
tion and of music therapy. We have had some
outstanding leadership!
Furthermore, we have had a membership,
by and large, who would accept change, al­
most on faith alone, whenever our leadership
thought such action to be wise. True, there
have been some rumblings from some mem­
bers from time to time; but, in the main, petty
differences, personal biases, and selfish inter­
ests have been put aside for the benefit and
welfare of the group. This unitedness of pur­
pose, this professional cohesiveness, is a unique
characteristic of our group. It is this type of
group behavior that provides the foundation
for a true professionalism. We should be
thankful that this seems to be the case.
We have operated in terms of planned
change whenever such change seemed neces­
sary for continued growth. We have had no
“crash programs” for effecting change; rather,
we have anticipated change and have instituted
innovations only after considerable delibera­
tion and planning. Some of the changes effected
have been on the purely operational level,
others on the conceptual level, in terms of our
theoretical constructs.
Changes in operational procedures have
been necessary in order to run a more efficient
and effective Association. When we realized,
for instance, that the responsibilities of the
officers were becoming too heavy and that
our efficiency was beginning to be impaired,
we organized a Central Office and employed a
secretary, half-time, to handle the rather rou­
tine affairs of the Association. This change not
only made for greater efficiency of operation,
but also provided the officers with the time
* Presidential Address, Fifteenth Annual Conference
of the National Association for Music Therapy, Kansas
city, M”., october 28-31, 1964.
DECEMBER, 1964
State University
needed for the other responsibilities of their
offices.
This operational change demanded an in­
crease in dues. Our membership understood
the necessity of this change and supported this
development wholeheartedly. Operational pro­
cedures thus were established in the Central
Office which made for greater efficiency in
answering correspondence, handling dues,
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paying bills, obtaining subscriptions for our
publications, distributing our brochures, and
like endeavors.
Last year, the operations of the Central Of­
fice were further refined, and consequently,
our business has been handled with greater
dispatch and with a greater saving in time and
money. Several all-member mailings were sent
out, new membership and career brochures
were designed, a new membership enrollment
card was designed which makes for more up­
to-date and more accurate record keeping,
new procedures for the purchase of Yearbooks
were worked out with the Allen Press (pro­
cedures which will save the Central Office
and the Treasurer much record keeping), and
a professional placement service was es­
tablished in the Central Office. These
refinements (or changes) in Central Office
operations will provide time for the additional
services being requested by our officers and
members. The Central Office is operating as
efficiently and as effectively as possible under
our present arrangement.
Several years ago, when we realized that
our Yearbooks were not completely fulfilling
the literature and information needs of the
membership, we began planning a new Bulle­
tin. The membership, again, strongly sup­
ported this venture. A few years later, the
officers and Executive Committee realized
that the Yearbooks and the Bulletin were not
the most effective means of communicating
information on music theory. Once again, the
membership voted to discontinue these publi­
cations in favor of a new Journal. The Journal
of Music Therapy made its first appearance
this past year. It has been received with great
acclaim by members of our profession and
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other professional groups. The abstracts of
research studies and the new bibliography
have been welcomed by scholars as much
needed tools in gaining further knowledge of
music therapy theory and practice. This pub­
lication change has given our Association a
new and revitalized image; it has provided us
with a vehicle of communication which is more
accessible and more acceptable to a larger
population of professional persons. The Jour­
nal will be enlarged next year, and new depart­
ments will be added.
We also raised our professional standards
when we inaugurated our program of registra­
tion. This change was a large step forward.
We began to stabilize our educational pro­
gram when we adopted auniform curriculum
and established requirements for the approval
of institutions. Here, again, we were forward
looking, and these changes greatly enhanced
our own programs and helped us to reach
toward a true professionalism.
Last year, we discovered, after much study,
that our operational costs were above our in­
come. We either had to curtail our growth or
to find additional funds. After attempting to
increase our income from other sources, we
finally realized that we had no choice bat to
recommend an increase in the dues. Again, the
membership voting was almost unanimous in
the acceptance of this change. We now have
enough income to operate within the necessary
budget each year, and through some new
grants, to begin the development of new proj­
ects. Your Association is now on sound finan­
cial ground-our house is in good order!
These few examples of change, and there are
many more, are basically of the housekeeping
or operational variety. There also have been
changes of a different sort--changes with a
different dimension. These changes are not as
observable nor as objective as those enumer­
ated above-but, they are just as important, if
not more important to the future growth and
development of music therapy.
A new attitude seems to have engulfed our
members--we seem to have developed a new
inquisitiveness, a new awareness to the prob­
lems and needs of music therapy. A new era
seems to be in the making. we are reshaping
some old notions regarding music therapy, we
are more aware of new developments in other
related fields, we are trying now approaches in
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the use of music, and more importantly, we are
getting encouragement from our members and
other professional and governmental groups.
This revival of interest in the basic concepts
of music therapy, the evaluation of such con­
cepts with current developments in the fields
of psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and an­
thropology, and the specific application of
music therapy principles, has helped make
possible the obtaining of several research
grants. It has also enhanced our relationships
with other groups and has made for wider ac­
ceptance of music therapy. These waning
changes in our attitude, thus, have made possi­
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ble changes in our image to other groups­
changes all to our benefit.
Change has always been the single central
variable in our world. It occurs slowly at
times, and at a greatly expanded pace at other
times-but it is always with us. It is necessary
for human survival, and the survival of orga­
nized groups such as our Association. Change
will continue to occur in our Association. Great
changes, I believe, are in store for us in the
next few years. These changes will occur at a
relatively rapid pace and will be related more
to our conceptual framework of music therapy
and to our practices than to our operational
procedures.
The changes which I foresee are in the de­
velopment of a new set of rubrics, already in
process, pertaining to the principles of music
therapy. Those will be stated in more defini­
tive form than ever before; they will be tested
in actual practice, and refinement of music
therapy techniques will result. Many hospitals
will inaugurate enlarged research programs
involving music therapy under the direction of
some central agency--a university, a research
center, or, possibly, a department of the fed­
eral government.
Music therapists will work more closely with
community groups in depressed areas; they
undoubtedly will become staff members in
outpatient facilities. The music therapist will,
of necessity, become a more professional mem­
ber of the treatment team. His role as primar­
ily a recreational staff member will decline.
Entertainment of the patients will no longer
suffice as his contribution. He will need to
become a skilled professional. And, our asso­
ciation must take the lead in these endeavors.
JOURNAL OF MUSIC THERAPY
We represent the Profession of Music Therapy
throughout the world.
As long as we are not resistive to change,
we can provide the leadership needed in music
therapy. If we become resistive, some other
group will assume the leadership role for us.
This we cannot permit to happen; we have
worked too hard and diligently to make music
therapy a respected profession. Today, we
stand at the threshold of achieving this pur­
pose. We can’t, and we won’t, “muff” this op­
portunity and responsibility.
It is only as we continue to look forward and
plan for change that we will achieve perma­
nence in our profession and for our Associa­
tion. Permanence means the acceptance of
DECEMBER, 1964
change, the willingness to grow. Satisfaction
with old concepts, old procedures, and even
old misticisms does not make for permanence
in our modern world.
The permanence of any group or profession
thus rests only on the willingness to effect
change-change, of course, for the betterment
of the individual, the profession, and society at
large. The National Association for Music
Therapy will accept this challenge-its leader­
ship is committed and motivated to this end;
its membership has given indication, time and
time again, that they are receptive to change.
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This is our uniqueness, our strength--and our
permanence.
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