What’s in a name? Reflections on describing the work we do

Note: This is a blog post with no answers.

Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) is credited with saying “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” In my work, this “definition of terms” idea can be expressed in various ways, such as through operational definitions. 

(An operational definition is a description of a variable, procedure, process, or action. It often includes an articulation of how that variable, procedure, process, or action will be observed or measured.)

This is certainly an exercise to which my students are accustomed. As part of treatment planning, practicum students are tasked with defining the target behavior identified in their clients’ objectives. Students work to clearly articulate specific aspects of what they will observe in a client—what they see, what they say, how they say it—that indicates the client is practicing or demonstrating the identified behavior. These definitions also include qualifiers—does the client have to complete this independently, or does it “count” if someone assists them in completing the task? Do they have to do it the first time, or does it “count” if they try multiple attempts prior to completing the task? 

Operational definitions extend to student researchers as well. For example, this semester I’m advising a couple students on systematic review projects. These students need to provide clear and thorough definitions of all the key variables in their research questions. These definitions are foundational to the integrity of the entire project as they inform the search and screening strategy. Poorly defined variables will lead to a weaker methodology, thus less meaningful findings.  

Both these “definition of terms” examples are time-limited and context-dependent. They apply only to a specific research project, an individual client (or clients), or a single clinical setting. These definitions are also short-term in that they hold true just through the execution of the music therapy treatment plan for that specific practicum placement or through the completion of that one systematic review project. So what about definitions that are less time- and context-dependent?

This semester I’m teaching a graduate seminar on music intervention development. Over the past three weeks we’ve spent about two hours trying to define “music intervention”…and have yet to come to a consensus. Instead, we’ve had interesting discussions about the relative importance and nuances of terms such as:

• Use, administer, implement, facilitate, or manipulate (As in, do we “use” music? Administer it? Implement it?)
• Music, music experiences, or both (In other words, how do we characterize music’s role in an intervention?)
• Interventionist (Is there always one? If so, who is it? Does it always have to be a music therapist?)
• Change, goal, functional goal, or area of need (As in, how do we characterize an intervention’s purpose or outcome?)

The discussions ultimately led to more questions and (at least for me) a reminder of how the words and labels we use reflect our values, understanding, beliefs, and clinical approach. 

I remember having similar thoughts this summer while attending the virtual World Congress for Music Therapy about the definition of “music therapy.” Session after session I found myself internally challenging the “standard” American definition and questioning whether that does in fact represent current practice or even current understanding. My notes include statements such as “need to expand definition of music therapy,” and I wondered if (when?) there would be an opportunity for this definition to be questioned, critiqued, and reshaped. (I’m also not alone in this line of thought. As I drafted this post, Dr. Bill Matney shared on Facebook an article he wrote that just released in the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy all about the complexity, nuance, and construction of “music therapy.”)

So there you have it—a blog post with no answers, only reflections, questions, and a wish that we give ourselves time and space to reflect and rethink, so we can evolve as a profession.

Tagged as: definition, Music Therapy, reflections