Turkish Music Therapy Association
THE CODE OF ETHICS Introduction
Music therapists belonging to organisations within the EMTC agree to conduct music therapy with social and legal responsibility.
This entails personal responsibility towards the therapeutic task and towards those persons with whom he/she enters into a therapeutic relationship.
This Code of Ethics serves to protect patients/clients from unethical practices, to orientate members toward professional behavior.
Article 1 – Applicability
1.1. The Code of Ethics is compatible with the EMTC Code of Ethics. 1.2. This Code of Ethics refers to individual professional members, candidates for music therapists, music therapy appliers and music therapy workshop conductors.
1.3. The Code of Ethics MÜZTED, which is a member of EMTC, refers to the agreed definition of music therapy which is practiced by its members.
1.4. The Code of Ethics implies respecting other documents adopted by the MÜZTED and EMTC.
Article 2 – Objective
2.1. The primary objective of the EMTC Code of ethics shall be to protect the patient/client from harm that may result from unethical behaviour and to ensure that his/her welfare shall at all times take priority over all the other considerations. 2.2. The subsidiary objective of the EMTC Code of Ethics is that the members will serve, directly or indirectly, to the above mentioned, primary goal.
2.3. The EMTC Code of Ethics shall serve to the protection, welfare and professional development of its members, the improvement of the profession and the protection of the title of ‘music therapist’.
Article 3 - General professional duties
3.1. The music therapist shall act in accordance with the agreed quality standards applicable to his/her particular role.
3.2. The music therapist shall comply with all the relevant requirements of the profession and the professional organizations, whether European, international, national or local.
3.3. The music therapist in employment shall not be engaged in any official or unofficial industrial/commercial or other actions that could lead him/her into conflict of interest with the primary aim of protecting the safety of patients/clients and the best interests of the music therapist’s profession.
3.4. The music therapist shall make reasonable steps to expand his/her knowledge and skills through appropriate means in providing services, training and supervision, which will contribute to his/her continuing professional development (CDP).
Article 4 – Specific responsibilities of patients/clients
4.1. The music therapist should be aware of the degree of dependency inherent to a therapeutic relationship. He/she shall never act in order to satisfy his/her own personal interests (e.g. emotional, sexual, social or economic).
4.2. The music therapist shall work on the basis of the precise agreement with the patient/client and/or his/her parent/caregiver when it is appropriate. This should cover:
A- the music therapeutic orientation, i.e. the method or the technique that will be applied
B- the scope and the average duration of the treatment, prices (when it is applicable)
C- an explanation of the nature of the therapy confidentiality and, in the case of a child or young person, any privacy restriction which is imposed for the purpose of legal protection of the child.
4.3. The music therapist shall not treat patients/clients whose particular therapeutic needs he/she is not competent to meet. This includes cases where techniques outside the scope of the therapist`s training are required.
4.4. The treatment shall only be given in the following referral/self-referral. The music therapist shall not solicit clients, shall not make or publish misleading claims such as the appealing treatment outcome.
4.5. The music therapist shall be responsible for the physical safety of the patient/ client during the therapy session, and in case of need is required to provide first aid, to be aware of all the conditions (such as epilepsy) requiring rapid access to medical assistance or special equipment.
4.6. The music therapist shall not carry out assessment, treatment, training, supervision or research if he/she is mentally or physically unable (due to an illness, exhaustion or a mental shock) to do so.
4.7. Where he/she is not covered by institutional insurance, the music therapist shall have his/her own professional indemnity insurance.
4.8. In the case of the crisis situation and the state of emergency, the music therapist is required to engage in providing music therapy activities.
Article 5 – The responsibility of the candidates in education, candidates for music therapists (interns) and the supervisees
5.1. The individual or group therapy of students (candidates in education) in accordance with the actual development and circumstances of MÜZTED shall not be conducted by any person related to his/her theoretical training, supervision or internship program.
5.2. Staff or training institutions that have serious doubts about the (candidates in education’s) (student) development into a competent therapist shall inform that student as well as the appropriate authorities.
5.3. The trainer/supervisor shall not transfer clinical responsibility to a (candidates in education’s (student) or supervisee without adequate supervision.
Article 6 – Confidentiality and Data Protection
6.1. The music therapist shall protect the confidentiality of information gained in the course of a client’s/patient’s treatment. Music therapist is also responsible for the protection of the intellectual and artistic property of the clients, such as the audio recordings, lyrics and drawings. The music therapist shall keep these products in a secure place during the therapy process and then dispose them properly. Exceptions:
• General information can be shared with other professionals involved in the treatment plan and for the purposes of treatment regime coordination.
• With the permission of the client/patient/parent/caregiver appropriate information may be shared for training purposes with colleagues and supervisor, who shall be bound by the same requirement of confidentiality as well as the therapist.
• With the permission of the client/patient/parent/caregiver appropriate information may be published or presented as the part of a case study or research project.
• In the case of the minor child of protection parents and/or competent authorities may be notified.
• In the case of client’s / patient’s / disabled persons’ life protection competent authorities may be notified.
• In the case of vital endangerment of another person competent authorities may be notified.
• In the case of a request by the court, only the required information can be disclosed.
Article 7 – Research
7.1. In all the researches involving clients/patients either directly or indirectly, priority shall be given to their best interests and their safety as it is already set out in the sections 4 and 6 above.
7.2. Authorisation from a medical and/or academic ethical committee shall be obtained before commencing research.
7.3. The intellectual property of colleagues shall be used respectfully. The contribution of collaborators shall be clearly acknowledged in any presentation or publication.
Article 8 – Professional relations
8.1. The MÜZTED member shall strive for good and mutually supportive working relationships with colleagues.
8.2. The MÜZTED member shall behave with respect towards colleagues, avoid disparaging remarks and negative qualifications of the other colleagues, and in case of conflict shall seek a mutually acceptable solution.
8.3. The MÜZTED member shall show concern for another MÜZTED member and assist him/her in a crisis situation, in accordance with the possibilities.
Article 9 – Equality of opportunities
9.1. Insofar as it lies within the music therapist’s discretion, patients/clients shall have equal rights of access to assessment and treatment regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any form of disability which is not relevant to the advisability or otherwise of treatment.
9.2. Insofar as it lies within the music therapist’s discretion, candidates for training, prospective supervisees, applicants for professional recognition or research funding shall not be discriminated on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any form of disability which does not affect professional competence.
Article 10 – Implementation of the Code of Ethics
10.1 MÜZTED shall investigate alleged breaches of its Code of Ethics and, where necessary, discipline members appropriately, as regulated by the rule books on the operation of the corresponding component MÜZTED organs. 10.2. In case of need, MÜZTED shall ask the opinion of EMTC regarding the current procedure.