If 2020 has driven any lesson home for music therapy professionals, it is this:
Every music therapist needs to have some sort of foundational understanding of trauma-informed care.
We chatted with Alicia Hrubey, MT-BC about the importance of practicing with a trauma-informed care approach— no matter your population.
“Because it provides a context and a framework for everything you do in your therapeutic practice. And I look at it like, it’s a lens, right? These are my trauma glasses. So now here they are, I’m viewing everything through this lens of being trauma informed. There’s no prescription that I can write. There’s no checklist that I can give to say, ‘Oh, if you check these boxes, then you’re trauma informed’, right?
It’s this idea that there are the three R’s: realization, recognition and response:
- The realization that it exists.
- The recognition of how it affects those we serve and, and those around us, including ourselves.
- And then there’s the response to that. So how do we set up our life essentially? How do we set up our practice to make sure that we’re responding in a way that people feel supported and safe?”
Hit play on the video below to hear more of Alicia’s view on the role of trauma-informed care on issues like collective trauma, generational trauma, and the intersection of racism & trauma:
As music therapists, we have an ethical duty to have a foundational knowledge of trauma and trauma-informed care. If you’re ready to dive in & put this information into action, then check out Alicia Hrubey’s CMTE Introduction to Trauma Informed Care for Music Therapists & Ethical Implications In this course, you will:
- Explore what trauma is, how it affects the brain, learning, behavior, and relationships
- Examine the ethical implications of trauma informed care in your practice
- Discuss on how you as a music therapists can create safe, supportive environments so that your clients feel precious, powerful, and worthy
- Explore the effect of secondary trauma on practitioners
- Discover actions to take care of yourself in this difficult and uncertain time.
This 4 CMTE course also fulfills the CBMT ethics credit requirements!
