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Angela Harrison
Regional Liaison for Europe
Contact: europe@wfmt.info[/caption]
New Year greetings to friends and colleagues around the world!
It will be great to see you at the World Congress in Krems, Austria in July, and I am delighted to note that a number of students and professionals have received scholarships from the WFMT. Europe is so wonderfully varied – in climate, the temperament of our people, and in our economics. However, there are common themes that unite us within the profession:
• A desire for music therapy to be more widely understood and recognized;
• A drive to produce ever more convincing evidence of the effectiveness of music therapy;
• Development of the highest standards of training and ongoing professional development;
• A growing need for our services across all age groups, particularly the aging population; and
• The need for financial resources to sustain a larger workforce across the region.
Each country has its own way of moving things forward, and I know there are many therapists in Europe working incredibly hard to negotiate with government departments and funders to ensure that music therapy becomes an option for people in hospitals, schools, and in social care.
In The Netherlands, The Dutch Association for Music Therapy has chosen a great day to celebrate our profession. They are planning to lift spirits by promoting a national Day of Music, 20 January 2014, a date known as “Blue Monday.” See http://www.dagvandemuziektherapie.nl/
Here in the UK, the long-awaited 1st Conference of the British Association for Music Therapy, “Counterpoints: Music Therapy Practice in the 21st Century,” will be held at the Birmingham Conservatoire from 21 to 23 February 2014. See http://www.bamt.org/bamt-conference-2014.html
What a great celebration that will be, after the complications of merging two organizations to create a single representative body, valued by public and professionals alike. It is times like this when we remember passed colleagues, and it is fitting that the Tony Wigram MTC Research Fellow Lecture is to be on the first evening of the conference. We are privileged to have Dr. Cheryl Dileo with us, presenting on music therapy and cardiac disease. Thanks must go to The Music Therapy Charity, who sponsors an annual lecture in memory of Tony.
On that reflective note, I wish you and your clients a peaceful and rewarding 2014 and look forward to hearing news from therapists and MT associations across Europe.
Angela HarrisonEuropean Regional Liaison
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