People drawn to music, arts and dance therapy are creative beings, and vary widely in terms of neurodiversity. Neurodiverse therapists are worthy of support that really works for them, and this includes accessible internal frameworks. Too often, music therapy forms, processes and documentation methods present barriers to these essential people sustaining themselves in our profession. Burnout is real, and often exacerbated by overwhelming, wordy structures that can require a huge amount of energy and attention to ‘translate’ into real understanding. There are also real, live people behind each funder/client email address, who receive our reports and often feel fatigued or overwhelmed themselves.

Katie will present on some of the innovative visualised aspects of our day to day business in Mauri Tui Tuia – Creative Therapies New Zealand. Accessibility is one of our core values, and when building a team of 12+ creative therapists, we wanted to forge a different way of managing ‘everything outside the therapy room’. The power of visual appeal is real and should not just be reserved for marketing. Beauty and aesthetics are important, and we all deserve to enjoy our frameworks – they are there to support us as therapists, not the other way around.

Katie will show actual examples of some of our visually enhanced forms, processes, and structures, and discuss the rationale behind these choices. She will also highlight how these internal frameworks are mirrored externally, with information, consent forms, and reporting that honours the attention and interest of funders, families, and clients. Lastly, Katie will touch on the additional effort, time, and energy required to work this way, reflect on ways to make this more sustainable, and offer tips for therapists or organisations who want to make ‘everything outside the therapy room’ just as accessible as what’s inside it.