Below is a blog, guest-written in February 2013 for a popular Music Therapy blog, by author Bree Beynon, MT-BC with the Palm Beach Music Therapy Institute. Check it out below!
“Thank you; this really makes a difference.” Most people don’t get to hear that kind of validation in their jobs on a regular basis. That’s because most people aren’t music therapists.
My name is Bree, and I am a proud board certified music therapist and certified neurologic music therapist. I work for a private practice in South Florida called “The Palm Beach Music Therapy Institute” or “PBMTI” for short. I recently made the transition from a full-time hospice music therapist to a full-time private contractor position. In addition to my clinical responsibilities in medical and educational settings, I am currently dipping my toes into the world of marketing and program development. This is a new venture for me, an exciting challenge. Marketing and PR is crucial to a successful private practice. They don’t teach you how to prepare for networking events and effectively design “leave-behinds” in most music therapy degree programs, but they should. As the world of health care and reimbursement changes every day, I believe it is everyone’s best interest to learn how to market themselves and their service. That being said, it’s a learning process and one I’m very excited about.
Although PBMTI is not new, a successful private practice since 2006, we have new goals and energy going into 2013. Aside from the obvious goal of obtaining new business and financial success, we also aspire to be a leading resource and networking source for area music therapists. If education is the backbone of this profession, then networking and idea sharing are the life blood. The amazing thing about the field of music therapy is that we are all connected by a common thread. Aggressive competition is rare and rather a helping hand is frequent. What other field can boast that?
With that in mind, I ask that you spread the word about PBMTI. New to the social marketing scene, we are eager to connect, “share”, “retweet” and “friend”. The more we support each other, the more we support ourselves and our future careers goals. Music therapy is only as powerful as the music therapists out there spreading the testimonies, research and incredible stories. Thankfully, we have some amazing representatives out there.
I look forward to connecting with you all in the future and will see you in Jacksonville!
Bree Beynon, MT-BC The Palm Beach Music Therapy Institute