For my research portfolio, I decided to investigate the professional studies of a music therapist. But what is a music therapist? According to the British Association for Music Therapy, “music therapists are highly trained allied health professionals (AHPs), providing treatment that can help to transform people’s lives.” They use music to help their clients achieve their therapeutic goals through the development of musical and therapeutic relationships. Music therapists work with the nature of musicality of each client to make their sessions as beneficial and useful as possible, rather than focusing on if they can play an instrument of their musical knowledge.
To become a music therapist, you do require some specific qualifications to become licensed. According to the National Careers Service, these include an undergraduate degree in a related subject, such as music, music education, creative arts, performing arts etc. These are available at most universities in the United Kingdom, and for music specific degrees, the option of conservatoire is available too. You would then need to complete a postgraduate or master’s degree in music therapy. Institutions that offer these courses include the University of Roehampton, University of West England, Anglia Ruskin University, University of Derby, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, or complete the Music Therapy program with Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. You would then need to register with a Health and Care Professions Council, as music therapists need to be registered. To further your expertise, you could complete a Level 7 qualification in music therapy, complete some volunteering work in the field or complete a short introductory course provided by the British Association for Music Therapy. Often when music therapists are self-employed, having lots of experience and qualifications make them seem much more employable, and will be hired for more patients and sessions.#
The National Careers Service also highlights the skills and knowledge required for this role. As a music therapist, you will firstly need good counselling approaches and be able to assess situations and behaviours in a non-judgemental way. This might be observing a child with aggressive behaviour towards his superiors such as their teachers and still being able to work with them effectively without feeling targeted or threatened by them. You should also have a good understanding of psychology and learn how therapists approach their patients. Having a high level of musical proficiency is also essential to this role, this could be playing an instrument, understanding music theory, composition skills or understanding musical history and musicology. More personal skills to have for this role may include being sympathetic and understanding. During this role you will be exposed to patients who may be aggressive, badly behaved, emotional, angry, and they also could have experienced some disturbing events, causing them to experience emotional distress. Being patient with your students and sympathetic and understanding is key to this role to help build a sense of trust between you and your student. Being able to work with other members of staff is also helpful, some pupils might require one or two members of staff with them at all times, so communication with these teachers is essential as they are familiar with the students behaviour and can assist with the approach you would take in order for them to benefit from the sessions. Flexibility is also a key skill to have as a music therapist. When treating pupils possibly with autism or chronic medical conditions, plans can often change quite suddenly due to what mood they’re in or if they are poorly, so being able to adapt sessions and approached is very important. Being able to read people reactions and emotions is also a good skill to have in terms of deciding if one method of music therapy works for that student, or if it makes them overstimulated, upset, angry etc, so in order to prevent any situations escalating, being able to recognise when a method isn’t working is important to steer away from any incidents.
To discover what a typical day in the life as a music therapist looked like, I watched “Day in the Life of a Music Therapist” by CareersBox (2017) on YouTube. In this video, it states that patients can be referred to a music therapist through a psychologist, paediatrician, doctor or a physician. The aim of these sessions is to focus on social, communication, physical, emotional and developmental needs. Music therapy can also be used to treat new mothers who could potentially be suffering with postnatal depression or anxiety, substance abuse problems or anxious attachment problems with their newborn. These music therapists learn to take the raw power that music holds and use it in a clinical context to help support physical and emotional wellbeing (1:06). Charlotte Miller, a music therapist says that all group music therapy, individual music therapy and therapy assessments helps to boost mental wellbeing in her patients (1:13). Another source I looked at to discover what a typical day’s work of a music therapist looked like was an article published by Manson, A (2025). They anonymised the therapist and the students’ names whilst taking us on a more in depth day in the life. Before she starts her day, she checks in with the disciplinary team and the school she has gone into, to discuss students’ mood and attitude ahead of the sessions so she can prepare and adapt to their behaviour that day to make the sessions as beneficial as possible. She then looks over her notes from the previous week to refresh her memory on what each student is working on. Her first pupil, a teenager who takes part in music therapy to explore different emotions and feelings and also to recognise when others are having these feelings, is working on making a game to recognise these emotions and their sessions are focus on making music to accompany this game. They experiment with creative composition with keyboards and a djembe, through doing this, he identifies what emotion and expression the music represents and then clarifies exactly what he wants the music to sound like. After a few other morning sessions, she writes up notes to keep track of each individual student’s progress and to note down what they developed on in today’s sessions. She then does another session with two students and their teaching assistant. Both students struggle with socialisation, so they have a joint session to encourage the development of their socialisation skills and overall development. She notices that they typically sit on opposite sides of the room to each other and they often want to play different songs, so to help with their interaction, they often take one song suggestion at a time, and the other students help their music therapist to accompany the other with a keyboard. This helps their development as they are learning how to interact and how to respect and acknowledge other people’s ideas. After this session, the music therapist helps with the sign language lunchtime club, which she does alongside the speech and language therapist at the school. In these sessions, the students will suggest songs, the speech and language therapist will use Makaton whilst the music therapist accompanies on piano whilst the pupils sing along. They often try and pair the students up to help encourage their social interaction and development. After a few more afternoon sessions, she then goes to the Nordoff and Robbins Centre in Jesmond to have a supervised meeting to discuss her strengths, and what she wants to work on to help improve her work. These meetings are also used to raise any questions she might have about the job and raise any issues she has experienced in the schools. This a very good demonstration as to how music therapists use their days, and a more in-depth explanation on what these sessions can consist of.
There are always some financial and legal issues to take into consideration when looking into the music therapy profession. O’Brien, J (2024) says that the average salary for a music therapist working with the NHS is between £35,392 and £42,618 per year (Band 6). More experienced music therapists working more in the private sector typically earn between £43,742 and £50,056 per year (Band 7) and then music therapists who have demonstrated that they can handle more responsibility and experience, such as managing a team may earn between £50,952 and £57,349 per year (Band 8a). Fees for music therapists working majorly in the private sector are normally negotiated between the employer and the employee. The British Association for Music Therapists suggest a rate of between £40 and £60 per hour is a reasonable and standard rate. There are some legal and ethical factors to consider in this profession also. The British Association for Music Therapists state that all practicing music therapists in the UK must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and they must also meet the HCPC’s Standards of Performance, Conduct and Ethics. This involves the ability to promote and protect the interest of service users and carers, communicate appropriately and effectively, work within the limits of your knowledge and skill, delegate properly, respect confidentiality, manage risk, report concerns about safety, be open when things go wrong, be honest and trustworthy and keeping hold of records. These attributes all are necessary to ensure that music therapists can deliver their best work and work well with their patients.
Mostly for those working in the private sector, marketing and promotional skills are also good to have to help push your work out their and to attract more business. The Musicians Union (2023) has a few tips on how to do this. They suggest that creating an identity for yourself on social media is a good way to promote yourself. Also making your content accessible is a good way to do this, such as creating a social media page.
Alongside any other job, the music therapy profession has some personal challenges embedded in it. Clements-Cortes (2023) says that there is a lack of funding in the music therapy sector and towards research, some don’t consider it a healthcare discipline. Due to the lack of funding for NHS based music therapists, those who cannot afford private sessions are at a disadvantage and may not be able to access music therapy. There are also some educational gaps in the profession, such as limited courses for music therapist to become fully qualified at select universities, majorly in the south of England. Mehta, V (2023) then says that being a music therapist can also potentially influence your own mental health. She thinks that being constantly surrounded by others that are struggling can have an impact on your mental wellbeing. It can also have effects on your personal relationships; some feel that being surrounded by other people’s burdens can make them feel withdrawn from their personal relationships.
There are many ways to develop your career as a music therapist after years of practice. The National Careers Service suggests becoming a music therapy teacher. Linking back to the lack of education in the speciality, having more teachers in the sector would improve its overall impact on others. Quite a lot of music therapists that start working in the NHS often expand to working either part NHS part private, or open their own private practice, typically because private music therapists earn more than general NHS therapists. For those staying in the NHS, a development you can consider is becoming a senior music therapist, or manager of a team of other music therapists. Another route that could be taken is going into research. Lots of practicing music therapists take a lot of inspiration from others research so it would be a good way to expand the knowledge of music therapy.
To conclude my research portfolio, I believe music therapy is a vital, yet under recognised part of both the music and healthcare industry. Music education opens opportunities for people to express themselves, to explore their creativity, persevere and shine. It’s also proven that music can have impact on people’s emotional wellbeing. Therefore, the music therapy industry is essential to our healthcare system also, whilst also being a good and influential job in the music industry.
Bibliography
British Association of Music therapy (no date a) BAMT. Available at: https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy/what-is-a-music-therapist (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
British Association of Music therapy (no date b) BAMT. Available at: https://www.bamt.org/ (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
CareersBox (2017) Day in the Life of a Music Therapist, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klv4epqRyfw (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Clements-Cortes, A. (2023) ‘A personal reflection on challenges facing music therapy education, training and clinical practice’, Music and Medicine, 15(4). doi:10.47513/mmd.v15i4.942.
Manson, A. (2025) What does a music therapist do in a day?, Nordoff and Robbins. Available at: https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/what-does-a-music-therapist-do-in-a-day/ (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Marketing & Self-promotion advice and features for musicians (2023) The Musicians’ Union. Available at: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/career-development/career-guides/marketing-and-promotion (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Mehta, V. (2023) How being a therapist can impact your personal life, Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/202309/how-being-a-therapist-can-impact-your-personal-life?msockid=2e528cab34b86cc63fbf9f5935036d53 (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Music therapist (no date a) Music therapist | Explore Careers | National Careers Service. Available at: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/music-therapist (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Music therapist (no date b) Music therapist | Explore Careers | National Careers Service. Available at: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/music-therapist (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
O’Brien, J. (2024) Music therapist job profile | prospects.ac.uk. Available at: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/music-therapist (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
Postgraduate music therapy courses in the UK (no date) Courses in the UK. Available at: https://www.postgraduatesearch.com/pgs/search?course=music-therapy (Accessed: 14 January 2026).
