American Music Therapy Association: Disaster Training

What is it? When disasters strike—like Hurricane Matthew recently did—it’s important to have the resources available to properly respond. Which is why the American Music Therapy Association’s new course, “Disaster Response for Music Therapists: Core Principles of Psychological First Aid,” should come in handy. The electronic course is available to members and nonmembers  (opens in a new tab) for free until the end of 2016.

Why it works: Beyond helping members get a few more Continuing Music Therapy Education credits, the offering has lessons on psychological first aid that extend beyond the AMTA’s member base. “It is for use by disaster responders including first responders, incident command systems, primary and emergency health care providers, school crisis response teams, faith-based organizations, disaster relief organizations, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Medical Reserve Corps, and the Citizens Corps in diverse settings,” the e-course’s webpage states  (opens in a new tab).

Other benefits: AMTA offers access to a job center, access to referral lists for consumers looking for music therapy assistance, support for copyright issues, a wide variety  (opens in a new tab) of publications, and an array of discounts. Additionally, current music therapy interns can request a welcome packet that gives them a significant discount on their AMTA membership  (opens in a new tab).