What are the (academic and professional) qualifications and/or experience required to enter the profession?
To become a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) recognised music therapist you must have a postgraduate degree in Music Therapy. This can be achieved through either a two to three year master’s course or an arts therapist level 7-degree apprenticeship (National Careers Service, n.d.). To apply for both entry paths, you need a degree in a related subject, usually Music (Guildhall School of Music and Drama [GSMD], 2024), but if you have a high level of musical technique and understanding you might be accepted with a Psychology or Education degree (National Career Service, n.d.). You are also asked to have at least one to two years of experience in health, education, or social care and are required to complete 40 hours of individual personal therapy (GSMD, 2024). A postgraduate degree in Music Therapy consists of weekly practical musicianship, improvisation, and voice classes alongside training placements in a variety of settings with people who experience a wide range of disabilities and disorders (GSMD, 2024). You will also learn developmental theories and theories from psychotherapy and how to apply these in music therapy (Queen Margaret University [QMU], 2022)
What knowledge, skills and personal qualities/attributes are needed for success within the profession?
To be successful within the profession, you need to be compassionate, empathetic and understanding as you will be working with vulnerable people. You need to be flexible and willing to change the initial plan as a patient responds to it. What might seem useful in theory might not be what a patient will respond best to in the session. The way a patient responds may even vary from session to session. What worked the week before might not work the next. This would also require creativity and innovation. You need to be self-aware and able to self-reflect (GSMD, 2024). Although a music therapist needs to have good social skills as the profession involves working with patients, friends, families and alongside a multidisciplinary team (British Association for Music Therapy [BAMT], 2024), you also need to be able to work independently. Sessions often involve the patient choosing what instruments they would like to work with and composing or accompanying what is being played. Therefore, you need to have a high level of musical technique and skill on a variety of instruments, and the ability to improvise. A music therapist, like any other therapist, also needs to know developmental theories, psychotherapy theories and therapeutic techniques, and be able to apply these. Organizational and time management skills would also be needed to plan and execute sessions efficiently. Patients will have varying levels of ability and rate of progress which requires a music therapist to be patient and perseverant. There is also an expectation for a music therapist to be interested in continuous learning and developing their professional techniques by staying up to date with music therapy research and practices.
What are the duties and responsibilities of the profession – what does a typical day’s work involve?
A music therapist supports a person of any age with psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative or social needs using music and improvisation (BAMT, n.d.). This could include people with learning disabilities. Studies have shown that a year of vocal based lessons helped increase the scores achieved by six-year-olds with dyslexia on auditory and spelling tasks, and fifteen weeks of lessons aided dyslexic eight-year-olds in the same way (Heikkila & Knight, 2012). It could also include supporting Alzheimer patients by using access to musical memories to aid access to nonmusical memory and knowledge (Thaut, 2010). Studies have shown that rhythm in music can help stimulate movement in the rehabilitation process of someone who has had a stroke due to the integration of the motor and auditory systems in the brain. The same studies have proven music and dance useful forms of therapy for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease (Adhitya, 2017). Music also has the ability to improve general wellbeing and confidence. The usual setting for these interventions to take place is either in facilities belonging to the Nation Health Service (NHS) or in places of education, most often specialist schools, but could also include private practices.
Due to the wide variety of places, disabilities and disorders a music therapist could work in or with, a typical day’s work could look very different. One music therapist might work in a specialist primary school working primarily with children who have learning disabilities or communication issues, whereas another might work for the NHS and with adults suffering from depression or even on a paediatric oncology ward. Music is linked to reducing pain and anxiety in children who suffer from cancer (UK Parliament, 2020). Although this is true, there will be shared experiences across the whole profession. All music therapists must be registered with the HCPC, renew the registration every two years and keep a record of their continuing professional development. They must attend group supervision meetings where they can bring work that they are experiencing as challenging and support each other with different ideas and strategies to tackle these issues (Nordoff Robbins, n.d.). A music therapist will usually be part of a multidisciplinary team, working together to devise joint care approaches to achieve therapeutic goals set for an individual (BAMT, n.d.). A music therapist’s part of this could include listening to or playing along to a favourite song, improvising or composing. It could also be through individual or group sessions. Individual sessions could involve helping someone who has a history of trauma reflect on certain experiences, emotions or relationships through writing lyrics to a song. This could provide a space in which an individual feels safe to release emotions in an unpressured way, where other forms of therapy can sometimes feel too goal orientated and formal (Nordoff Robbins, 2024). Group sessions could focus more on bringing together individuals who struggle with communication, social skills, and confidence through playing or singing along to a song they both like (Nordoff Robbins, n.d.).
What are the main financial and legal issues that impact this profession?
One main financial issue during training is funding the required 40 hours of individual personal therapy (GSMD, 2024). This costs upwards of £35 per hour, totaling upwards of £1,400 (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2024). Another additional cost while completing a postgraduate degree in Music Therapy is placement travel and accommodation (QMU, 2022). The university will try and keep this cost to a minimum by finding placements that are close by, but ultimately the cost of travel falls on the student. Due to the research into this field being limited and ongoing, finding regular work as a music therapist can be difficult and most work part time hours (NHS, 2023). This results in a lot of music therapists having to work multiple jobs, either all in music therapy or in another related job, like teaching or research.
Another possible financial issue of training and practicing in the UK could be the reduced funding in the NHS and of the arts within education. Since 2021 the day-to-day budget for the department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), while taking into account inflation, has fallen every year with it falling again in the 24/25 financial year. Although this trend is partly due to the additional COVID-19 funding in 2020/2021, the budget has dropped below what was predicted had it followed the historic average growth rate since 2019 (British Medical Association [BMA], 2024). Due to this there will be less money to spend on staff salaries, potentially leading to less employment and understaffing. There were over 112,000 unfilled positions in the NHS and only 26.4% of NHS Staff that responded to a 2022 Survey said there were enough staff in the organisation for them to properly do their job (NHS, 2024). As music therapists already make up a small fraction of NHS employees, this highlights the limited number of jobs available within the NHS. Due to the underfunding of arts in education, less young people are being exposed to music, especially those in the working classes. Alongside this the funding of music in higher education has also experienced a 50% cut in 2021 (The Musicians’ Union, 2021). The combination of this could result in less people graduating with a degree in music, leading to less people training to become music therapists. Although this would mean there would be less competition when it comes to applying for a job, it also suggests that there would be less research into an already under researched field. This could prevent it from becoming a more mainstream therapy which would allow an increase in job availability. It also may limit the public’s awareness of this profession altogether, leading to less people asking for music therapy as an intervention.
Legal issues associated with this profession might include issues surrounding consent. A Music Therapist might be working with patients under the Mental Health Act (1983), minors or people with cognitive impairments. If a patient being treated under the Mental Health Act refuses a suggested treatment, a second doctor will be consulted. It is also standard practice for a patient who is seen to not be able to make their own informed decisions to be treated without consent (Mental Health Act, 1983). An important part of making sure a music therapist stays professional in this sense is the requirement to be registered with the HCPC and stick to the regulations outlined in the HCPCs code of practice (BAMT, n.d.).
What would the potential marketing and promotional aspects of this profession look like?
As a music therapist there is a likelihood of practicing privately or freelancing. This would involve setting up a website that highlights the qualifications you hold and that you are in supervision. A website would also need to be tailored to the demographic of patients you work with and should speak to research and the NICE guidelines to display an understanding of the services you are providing. It might also involve creating leaflets and flyers to advertise your practice or offering free taster sessions and both online and in person appointments to allow for a wider range of possible clients. If online sessions are offered the music therapist would have to decide what digital music therapy would look like for them, and how to use creative skills and technology in order to aid this.
What are the intellectual and personal challenges presented by the profession and how might these be dealt with?
In any profession dealing with people expressing distress, whether it be from trauma or a disability or disorder, it might put the professional in a position of distress or activate their own negative memories. To be a music therapist, you need to be able to distinguish the difference between the patient’s feelings and experiences and your own. Healthy coping mechanisms and techniques for personal reflection in situations like this will be learnt through the required individual personal therapy, allowing the focus of the sessions to be on the patient. Another challenge a music therapist might experience is that of the actual patient. If a patient’s symptoms present in an unusual or irregular way or they are not responding to the chosen techniques, a music therapist can bring this case to their supervision meeting. Other health care professionals can suggest strategies or ideas that have not yet been tried or thought of.
What career-progression/development opportunities are available within the profession?
There are opportunities to take on managerial roles either within a music therapist team, a team of arts therapists or within a multidisciplinary team (NHS, 2023). This would include roles like Consultant Music Therapist. There would also be opportunities to move into teaching or to further research interests through a PhD (dBs Institute, n.d.). Teaching could be in either a school, private lessons or it could be supervising and teaching prospective music therapists in higher education like on the master’s course.
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (2024) How to Get Therapy https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/how-to-get-therapy/ [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
BAMT (n.d.) BAMT Guide to Professional Practice and Code of conduct https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy/what-is-a-music-therapist/guide-to-professional-practice [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
BAMT (n.d.) What is a Music Therapist? https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy/what-is-a-music-therapist [Accessed 28 Dec 2024]
dBs Institute (n.d.) Career Spotlight: Music Therapist https://www.dbsinstitute.ac.uk/career-spotlights/music-therapist [Accessed 28 Dec 2024]
GSMD (2024) MA in Music Therapy https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/ma-in-music-therapy [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
Heikkila, E., & Knight, A. (2012) Inclusive Music Teaching Strategies for Elementary-Age Children with Developmental Dyslexia. Music Educators Journal, 99(1), 54–59.
Mental Health Act (1983) Chapter 20. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/20/section/58 [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
The Musicians’ Union (2021) Graduates Share Their Concerns About the Devastating Impact of Government Funding Cuts to HE Arts and Music Subjects https://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/graduates-share-their-concerns-about-the-devastating-impact-of-government-funding-cuts-to-he-arts-an [Accessed 3 Jan 2025]
National Careers Service (n.d.) Music Therapist https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/music-therapist [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
NHS (2023) Music Therapist https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/allied-health-professionals/roles-allied-health-professions/music-therapist [Accessed 3 Jan 2025]
NHS (2024) NHS Long Term Workforce Plan https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan-2/#1-the-case-for-change [Accessed 3 Jan 2025]
Nordoff Robbins (2024) How Can Music Support People with Learning Difficulties? Discover the Five Different Ways https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/five-ways-music-can-support-people-with-learning-difficulties/ [Accessed 28 Dec 2024]
Nordoff Robbins (n.d.) What Does a Music Therapist Do in a Day? A Day in the Life of Music Therapist Loren https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/what-does-a-music-therapist-do-in-a-day/ [Accessed 28 Dec 2024]
QMU (2022) Music Therapy – MSc https://www.qmu.ac.uk/study-here/postgraduate-study/2025/msc-music-therapy [Accessed 29 Dec 2024]
Thaut, M. H. (2010) Neurologic Music Therapy in Cognitive Rehabilitation. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27(4), 281–285. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.281
UK Parliament (2020) Written Evidence Submitted by British Association for Music Therapy (DEL03040) https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/10886/pdf/ [Accessed 30 Dec 2024]
