Introduction

Abstract

Improving Quality and Access: Music Therapy Research 2025 (MTR2025) was a three-day symposium sponsored and developed by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) to bring music therapy professionals together to consider where we are as a research community and to imagine our future over the next decade and beyond. Held July 16–18, 2015, near Baltimore, Maryland, the symposium included opening keynote presentations, four panels, and six breakout sessions, culminating in a series of recommendations, participant reflections, and informal audience responses to the three-day event. A book of proceedings, available as a free download from AMTA (http://www.musictherapy.org/assets/1/7/MTR2025proceedings.pdf), provides an in-depth summary of the symposium, including thoughtful commentaries and reflections from researchers, educators, policy experts, and clinicians. In the reflections that follow, three attendees (Lori Gooding, MT-BC; David Knott, MT-BC; and C. J. Shiloh, MT-BC) look back on the symposium, each from a different perspective: Dr. Lori Gooding considers the impact of the symposium through an educator’s lens, David Knott from a clinician’s perspective, and C. J. Shiloh from the dual position of clinician and advocate. Each perspective varies in its focus, and each provides insights into the experiences of those who attended.