Music Therapy

Overview

The American Music Therapy Association 2016 describes Music Therapy as, "the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”
Music therapists work with populations covering the entire lifespan including neonatal intensive care units through hospice and end-of-life care. Some examples of settings where a music therapist might be employed include schools, hospitals, nursing homes, forensic settings, private clinics, physical rehabilitation facilities, addiction recovery centers, and hospices.
Professional music therapists hold a degree in music therapy from an approved university. 

The curriculum includes:

• musical foundations
• clinical foundations
• music therapy foundations and principles
• culminating 6-month supervised off-campus internship

Those completing the coursework and internship are eligible to sit for the national board certification exam to obtain the credential MT-BC (Music Therapist - Board Certified) which is necessary for professional practice.

Five semesters of clinical experience provide students with hands-on experience with a wide variety of populations/settings including:

• addiction recovery
• in-patient medical (physical rehabilitation, palliative care, cardiovascular care, pediatrics)
• schools (early intervention, Autism Spectrum Disorder, emotional and behavioral disorders, developmental disabilities)
• juvenile detention
• hospice
• residential care homes (Alzheimer’s and dementia, assisted living, well elderly, adults with developmental disabilities)
• eating disorders
• day programming for adults with developmental disabilities.