Adventure Therapy & Music Therapy Competencies [blog 9]

How do competencies for becoming an adventure therapist compare and contrast with a different method of experiential treatment?

Something that caught my attention from the reading was when the distinction between competencies and skills was made, "As pointed out by Sperry (2010), skills development primarily pertains to attaining areas of competency acquired for training aspects, but not the background knowledge, theory, or value components associated with the learning of skills. Competency refers to the 'knowledge, skills, and attitude components which are necessary for professional practice'" (Gass, Gillis, and Russell 2012).

There are many different qualities and skills that can qualify someone to work as an adventure therapist, a music therapist, or any other type of therapist or counselor. With each category of work there comes different experiences that are required before you can actually participate effectively in each of these types of care. For Adventure Therapy, some of the competencies needed are listed through this metaphor: a competent leader of adventure experiences needs to have bricks of hard skills including technical skills, bricks of soft skills including facilitation skills, and mortar of meta-skills.

It it says in the chapter, the development of competencies from the adventure therapy field can be traced to the early 1990's, thanks to Dr. Gillis! These are the different levels of adventure therapy: Recreation, Education, Enrichment, Adjunctive Therapy, and Primary Therapy. Before an adventure therapist would be able to work in all these different areas they would have to learn the appropriate skills that would allow them to do so and gain the experiential knowledge to help the clients. 

There are thirty-eight competencies necessary for entry-level adventure therapists, here are the categories that all of those fall under:
A. Personal Component
B. Adventure Component
C. Programming Component
D. Therapy Component
E. Operational Component

Let's take a look at the competencies required for Music Therapists. According to research done by Edward Schwartzberg and Michael Silverman, the education and training of future music therapists is a topic that has received much attention. Researchers have been focusing on the different set of skills each student would have when they entered training, the technological aspects of training, the emotional stages during their internships, and many other factors that would play a role in the learning outcomes for future music therapists. One of the main differences first is the obvious one, with music therapy (different from adventure therapy) you would have to have some sort of understanding of music and experience with that. According to the AMTA Professional Competencies list you have to have completed either a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in music therapy. "The use of competency-based training seems to permeate across many allied health, education, and medical professions, including music therapy." All of these fields are directly and indirectly guided by theses professional competencies outlined in their professional organizations.

Here is a full list of all of the professional competencies needed in Music Therapy. To break them down into the smallest categories we have:
A. Music Foundations (history, composition, different instruments, etc.)
B. Clinical Foundations (terminology, typical human systems, principles of therapy, etc.)
C. Music Therapy (methods, techniques, current technologies, etc.)

Citations

American music therapy association. (2009). Retrieved from: http://www.musictherapy.org/about/competencies/

Gass, M. A., Gillis, H.L., Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. New York, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Schwartzberg, E. T., & Silverman, M. J. (2011). Categorization by Competency of Studies Involving Music Therapy Students in the Journal of Music Therapy, 1964-2008. Music Therapy Perspectives, 29(1), 50-64. 

AT compared to: Music, Group, & Psychodynamic Therapies [blog 3]

In chapter 3 it states, "adventure therapists are in a clinical relationship with their clients to seek or support positive changes in their thinking, feeling, and acting." This is played out in this type of therapy through the "ABC-R triangle: emotional response (Affect), acting out or withdrawn (Behavior), or irrational or problematic thoughts (Cognition), integrated around the systemic Relationship(s) of the individual and their therapist, field staff, peer group, family, and community" (Gass, Gillis, and Russell 2012).

Some of the main qualities that AT has is that it is focused on what types of treatment work the best for the adventure therapy clients. This is adjusted client to client. One of the wonderful things about AT is how much it is about meeting the client where they are, getting to know their needs, and figuring out ways to meet those needs. This requires the therapist to tailor the therapy to each individual client. One of the qualities of AT that stands out most to me is its focus on positive psychology. That is the approach where the therapist finds what is working for the client and really focuses on increasing those feelings actions and thoughts, instead of the opposite, which is focusing on eliminating the negative thoughts (Gass, Gillis, and Russell 2012).

The first type of therapy I would like to compare AT to is Music Therapy. Music Therapy is "the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program." One similarity between Music Therapy and AT that stands out most is how each therapy is so individualized to the client. It is also a very personal experience that comes with letting yourself as the client see what it is you need to work through.

"(Music therapy) can make the difference between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain and comfort - between demoralization and dignity." -Barbara Crowe (past president of the National Association for Music Therapy.)

The next type of therapy I am interested in comparing to AT is group therapy. There are a lot of similarities between group therapy and AT. "Adventure therapy is primarily a group and family treatment that views the peer and family group relationships as foundational to the process of how the therapy works. A high value is placed on the milieu of the peer group, using the impact of a positive (and negative) climate of peers" (Gass, Gillis, and Russell 2012). Group therapy is another type of psychotherapy that allows people in the group to learn from others through sharing experiences and offering advice to each other. This allows the members to have a safe place to interact and practice their new behaviors.

The last is psychodynamic therapy. There is a lot of the psychodynamic theory that makes AT what it is today. In the book it talks about if there was a situation where a client had a distorted view of themselves the therapist would present them with a treatment that would bring these thinking errors to light for everyone to see and understand, as errors. This is just one of the ways in which AT is molded to fit the need of the client. Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. It includes a lot of self-reflection and self-examination, and the use of a relationship between the therapist and the patient to get a glimpse into the problematic relationship patterns in the patient's life. One part of the way this is carried out that is so similar to AT is that the goal of psychodynamic therapy "is not only to alleviate the most obvious symptoms but to help people lead healthier lives." If you would like to learn more about this, click here.



Citations

American music therapy association. Retrieved from: www.musictherapy.com

Gass, M. A., Gillis, H.L., Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. New York, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Shedler, Jonathan K. (2010). Psychodynamic psychotherapy brings lasting benefits through self-knowledge. American Psychologist, Vol. 65. No.2. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/01/psychodynamic-therapy.aspx