How To Become A Music Therapist

A career in music therapy can be fantastically varied and immensely rewarding, particularly for those with a passion for both people and playing instruments. If you’re looking for a way to combine careers in psychology or a therapy career with a career in music, then the role of music therapist might just be for you.

However, it’s not as simple as getting a major in psychology and a minor in music, or to have majored in music and minored in psychology. Music therapy is entirely its own discipline, pulling together strands from a number of different subject areas. To find out more about it, you should consider taking a comprehensive online short course.

What is a music therapist?

A music therapist is an accredited professional who will play music for patients in order to improve their wellbeing. Presided over in this country by Music Therapy Associations and the Certification Board for Music Therapists, credentialed music therapy practitioners do far more than just play music.

For one thing, they have to undergo clinical training. For another, the career prospects for a qualified music therapist extend far beyond the mere playing of instruments. There are, for example, coordinator and management roles available in the sector, as well as opportunities for those who excel to go on and manage their own centers.

As a result, the average salary for a music therapist is around $48.2K. However, it usually starts at around $30.9K and tops out at roughly $78K. Clearly, then, there is a lot that an aspiring music therapist needs to think about before setting out on their new career path. It’s no good going in blind. As such, it is recommended that you use a course to give you a detailed insight into what the role entails and how the wider industry operates as a whole.

What is music therapy?

In basic terms, music therapy is someone who draws on the power of music to treat mental health issues and manage patients’ pain. It is commonly used to support people who have autism, dementia, depression, and insomnia, and can aid infant development. Music therapy has also been used to successfully provide pain relief for cancer, cardiac, and childbirth patients.

Music therapy mostly relies on piano guitar music, played to a patient by a qualified professional. Therefore, someone embarking on a music therapist career must know how to play an instrument as a means of bettering a person’s wellbeing, with proficiency in guitar, piano, and vocal performance a baseline expectation. To qualify, then, you must successfully complete a specialized music therapy degree program or music therapy equivalency program. Or, to ease yourself into the world of music therapy, you could undertake an online short course.

Any course you take will necessarily include insights into all the different approaches there are to music therapy and up-to-date research in the field. You will need to know all of these things and be able to apply them to your work if you want to be a successful music therapist.

What are the different approaches to music therapy?

There are a number of different approaches that music therapists can take, as set out by the American Music Therapy Association. When and how these approaches are used will be tailored to the needs of different patients.

For example, one patient might require guitar piano music to be played to them one-on-one as a means of helping them get to sleep. In this case, the genre of music played will be soft and mellow. Music therapy can also be offered in group settings, with some specialists offering their services to whole family units that need their help.

In the somewhat short history of music therapy, these approaches actually came to be accepted quite quickly in Western and then Asian countries. But, it wasn’t until more recently that music therapy practice came to be recognized as a proper mode of therapy in countries throughout Africa.

Research in music therapy

A school that offers music therapy or a short course that covers all the basics will inevitably delve into the research that drives this discipline. Studying music therapy is in many ways about knowing what the latest research is. This is because being in the know will allow the subject area to evolve much faster and make greater progress.

With a combination of music biological study, any music therapy degree offered by a school of music therapy will teach students all about the qualitative research that has gone into the field so far.

For example, one study that has come to play a central role in music therapy’s overall development was carried about by the Lucanne Magill Bailey Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This tested the benefits of music therapy for cancer patients and their families, and has allowed practitioners to improve the treatments they can offer in such cases. Resultantly, it will be taught on most programs in music therapy.

What qualifications do I need to become a music therapist?

If you want to get your music therapy career started, it will be necessary for you to look into what qualifications are required for music therapy practitioners. Jobs in music therapy are not the sort that you can simply apply for and hope for the best.

Even if you have successfully completed a music program, an undergraduate music degree, or have a qualification in behavioral sciences, you are unlikely to be able to start your career unless you study music therapy specifically. In short, you will have to look to a school offering music therapy as its own degree course.

An entire degree is, however, quite the undertaking, particularly for those who still aren’t sure whether music therapy is the right thing for them. Don’t worry too much if that’s the case for you, because you still have a couple of options available to you. One is to complete a career test, and the other is to sign yourself up for a music therapy online short course.

Why Study a Music Therapy Course Online?

To become a credentialed music therapist, there’s a lot you have to learn if you want the best possible employment outlook. However, not everyone who’s considering a career in music therapy will immediately be sure that it’s the right career path for them. So, before applying to a music therapy degree program, it’s worth doing an online short course that offers a detailed look at the industry.

With courses like this Courses For Success Music Therapy Certification Online Course, you’ll get an in-depth insight into what music therapy is and how a career in the field might look. Not only that, but you will also be issued with a national certification upon completion, which will make your applications to a music therapy school or music therapy equivalency course stand out.

Why Courses for Success?

Courses for Success offers over 10,000 online courses, all of which aim to help you in your personal development and career progression. Not only that, but you can also study them anywhere and at any time, and take them at your own pace, too.

You don’t need career diplomas or specific experience to get started. With every course we offer created to be as accessible as possible, you can be sure that all of them, from our coding courses and trading courses to design courses and developer courses, will help to boost your prospects, no matter who you are.

Beyond just the education itself, students will be issued with a certificate online after successful completion of each of the learning courses they do. Our music therapist skills courses are no exception. Our Music Therapy Certification Online Certificates are recognized by industry leaders. You could really make a name for yourself in the business world by signing up for a Courses for Success short course.