Announcing the Student and Intern Support Program

I’m very happy to announce a pilot project that will be taking place here on Music Therapy Source.  We understand the struggles associated with being a student and intern, especially when it comes to making things work financially.  As you may know, many internships are unpaid, yet still require 40 hours of work per week.  We’re not at a point where we can totally ease the burden, but we can offer a little help.

Starting in April, Music Therapy Source will call for project submissions from students and interns.  Projects will relate to the field of music therapy, and may include essays, insights, songwriting, and audio/video recordings.  They will be judged by online voting or by a panel (we’re varying the judging style to determine which seems to work best).  Awards will be in the amount of $100, and submissions will be published on the website.  The cool part about this is that the entire music therapy community can benefit from the work put into project submissions!

The awards are being provided by generous sponsors.  So far, the World Federation of Music Therapy and the American Music Therapy Association of Students have both excitedly jumped on board, each volunteering to sponsor one or more months of this project.  More sponsors are needed to complete this pilot project.  If we can build excitement around this and show how it benefits students, interns, professionals, and the field of music therapy in general, we will be in a better position to ask for outside support.

$100 may not seem like a lot, and in truth, it is quite modest compared to the expenses one endures as student or intern.  However, every little bit helps.  It is our hope that as this project evolves, we will be able to combine the resources of many and offer more in awards.  This is just the very beginning, and we need to start small.

The first project will be announced April 1st and will be officially sponsored by the American Music Therapy Association of Students.  If you are going to your regional conference, look for Music Therapy Source door prizes at your student and professional business meetings.  As always, comments and questions are encouraged.  Thank you for your support thus far!

-Matt