CBMT Ethics and Cultural Competency 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A music therapist discovers a personal bias that may affect their work with a specific client population. The MOST ethical response is to:
- Ignore the bias and continue unchanged
- Seek supervision, consultation, or personal work to address the bias and prevent client harm (Correct answer)
- Immediately terminate all clients from that population
- Inform clients of the bias without taking corrective action
Correct answer: Seek supervision, consultation, or personal work to address the bias and prevent client harm
Ethical practice requires therapists to actively identify and address personal biases through supervision, consultation, or personal work to protect clients.
Question 2: Client autonomy in music therapy means:
- The therapist decides all treatment parameters
- The client has the right to participate in decision-making about their own care (Correct answer)
- Only clients with no cognitive impairments have rights
- Clients may demand any intervention they want regardless of clinical appropriateness
Correct answer: The client has the right to participate in decision-making about their own care
Autonomy means respecting the client's right to self-determination and involving them meaningfully in decisions about their care.
Question 3: Using culturally appropriate music in therapy with diverse clients demonstrates:
- Therapist preference for multicultural music
- Respect for the client's cultural identity and enhances therapeutic engagement and efficacy (Correct answer)
- A standardized protocol required by AMTA
- No significant clinical difference compared to using any music
Correct answer: Respect for the client's cultural identity and enhances therapeutic engagement and efficacy
Culturally relevant music honors the client's identity, builds therapeutic alliance, and increases the relevance and effectiveness of interventions.
Question 4: Which action BEST demonstrates cultural humility in music therapy practice?
- Assuming all clients from a culture share identical musical preferences
- Asking the client to share their relationship with music and its cultural meaning (Correct answer)
- Only treating clients from your own cultural background
- Using one universal music approach for all clients
Correct answer: Asking the client to share their relationship with music and its cultural meaning
Cultural humility involves asking rather than assuming, recognizing the client as the expert on their own cultural experience with music.
Question 5: Electronic health records (EHR) containing music therapy session notes must be:
- Shared freely with all healthcare staff regardless of need
- Protected with appropriate security measures and accessed only on a need-to-know basis (Correct answer)
- Printed and stored in unsecured locations
- Accessible to family members without client consent
Correct answer: Protected with appropriate security measures and accessed only on a need-to-know basis
EHR security and access controls protect client confidentiality, limiting access to those with a legitimate clinical need to know.
Question 6: When a music therapist disagrees with a treatment team decision affecting a client, the MOST ethical course is to:
- Ignore the disagreement and comply silently
- Voice professional concerns through appropriate channels while continuing to advocate for the client's wellbeing (Correct answer)
- Override the team unilaterally
- Discuss concerns with the client instead of the team
Correct answer: Voice professional concerns through appropriate channels while continuing to advocate for the client's wellbeing
Ethical advocacy means raising professional concerns through appropriate communication channels while prioritizing the client's best interests within the team structure.
CBMT Ethics and Cultural Competency 2
A music therapist discovers a personal bias that may affect their work with a specific client population.
The MOST ethical response is to: