Introduction
A music therapist is an allied health profession that uses music in a therapeutic relationship addressing physical, emotional, cognitive or social needs of individuals (American Music Therapy Association, 2024). This research portfolio on working as a music therapist will cover areas such as the path to becoming a music therapist, the qualities and responsibilities required of a therapist, potential issues and challenges with this profession, promotional aspects, and career developments within the industry.
Entering the profession
A postgraduate degree in music therapy is required to be eligible to sign up with the Health and Care Professions Council (NHS, n.d) .At this point one may work in this profession, either as an employee for a company/organisation such as the NHS, or as a self-employed music therapist service. An undergraduate degree in a musical area is highly recommended since it shows one’s proficiency in music. However, “an undergraduate degree or professional qualification in a relevant field such as social work or teaching” is also acceptable if a suitable level of musical proficiency can be demonstrated (NHS, n.d.).
While not mandatory, work experience in a welfare environment (e.g. working in a care home, babysitting etc.) will be beneficial. This is because working as a music therapist involves individual or group sessions with patients who are often mentally vulnerable or unstable, therefore having the experience to deal with such patients is valuable.
Qualities and skills required in music therapy
To become a successful music therapist, one must have the following skills and traits: a high level of musicianship (including improvisation skills), excellent communication, creativity, a non-judgmental approach, emotional strength, resilience, and maturity (NHS, n.d.)
Expanding on the above points, it is useful to be skilled in improvisation because it is common practice for a music therapist to engage with their patient(s) by playing music in the form of improvisation. It also helps to create a bond and a feeling of trust between the therapist and patient. This is supported by Ryan Judd (2013), as the therapist suggests that the patient became more receptive to advice after being given the freedom to improvise in singing along with the therapist- who improvised on the guitar. This links into communication skills, as the therapist-patient relationship must be clear and honest for the therapy to be successful. Wigram and Gold (2006) in Rolvsjord and Stige (2013)stated that “active music making promotes interest and motivation to a degree that leads to joint attention and tolerance of shared engagement”, supporting the idea that musical improvisation can help the patient feel more comfortable in opening to their music therapist.
Duties and responsibilities of a music therapist
In the context of working in an institution such as a school, a music therapist is required to plan their sessions with the students and often spends the entire school day working with various groups. According to the BBC children in need (n.d.), “A hello song at the beginning of the session is great way for the children and young people to recognise and come together to start our time in music”. The idea of a music therapy session in schools is so the children can express themselves freely through music, whether that be playing instruments, or singing along with the therapist. This helps the students feel more relaxed for the rest of the time where more collaboration would usually be involved. Sessions are very individualistic, as the therapist would plan the session according to the needs of the children in that group.
An example of a day’s work of a music therapist to be discussed in this paragraph comes from the website Music therapy time (Music therapy time, 2016), as she documents what happens on a regular day of work in a school. The therapist notes that one of the most important parts of the work is warming up before starting group/individual sessions. This is because most of the session involves the therapist physically singing or playing an instrument hence “it’s important we have good habits for taking care of our physical-musical self”. Then the therapist has a staff meeting to discuss what they will be undertaking for the day, followed by preparation in advance for the group sessions. Another vital time of the day is “documenting individual patient interaction”, as this information is used to determine how much each patient benefits from the therapy and if any (further) medication is necessary.
Ultimately, a therapist’s responsibility in most scenarios is to help patients feel relaxed and express their feelings and whatever is on their minds through music.
Financial and legal issues that may affect a music therapist
According to the British association of music therapy (n.d.a), one “must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council” (HCPC) to be an official music therapist in the United Kingdom (UK). Part of this registration is that “Registered music therapists must meet the HCPCs Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics” (British association of music therapy, n.d.a). This is the code in which all music therapists in the UK must adhere to. Any legal or ethical complaints raised by patients or any member of the public will result in a formal investigation by the HCPC, and punishments will be introduced if the therapist has been discovered to be in breach of the code. For example, a caution order will be imposed for minor or isolated incidents, while a striking off order (removing a therapist’s name from the HCPC register) will be reserved for “serious, persistent, deliberate or reckless acts” such as discrimination, dishonesty or sexual misconduct (HCPC, 2019). Of course, if such incidents result in court action, it may become a financial issue for the music therapist if the case is lost.
A main financial issue that may impact a music therapist is the debt that one might face after newly becoming a music therapist. This is because the journey to registering with the HCPC is very academic, as stated earlier. With the orthodox way of a three to four year’s undergraduate degree, and a master’s course being two or three years (Prospects, 2024), a newly registered music therapist may find themselves overwhelmed by debt from government loans. Furthermore, the starting salary for a full-time music therapist working in the NHS ranges from £35,392 to £42,618 (NHS, 2024). This is around £2000 lower than the median gross annual earnings for full time employees in the UK, which was £37,430 as of April 2024 (Office for National Statistics, 2024). Therefore, there is an element of financial insecurity of a newly starting music therapist due to consideration of tax, the slow process of student loan repayments, and other outstanding fees/bills one may have.
Marketing and promotional aspects of music therapy
When working as an employee for an institution or company (such as the NHS, a school, or a care home), it is unlikely the therapist would need to promote themselves seeing as it would be the employer’s role to advertise for clients- or because there are already several patients in the facility (e.g. rehabilitation places). However, for those in the private sector of music therapy, one can market their business through the BAMT website (British Association for Music Therapy, n.d. b) by having their details shared to the public on the BAMT webpage. Using the detailed search function there, a potential client can look for nearby music therapists that match their requirements and will be able to contact them through telephone or email.
In the world of modern technology, there are many alternative ways to promote one’s own music therapy business, the most common being through social media. On social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, one can amass a large following of people through simply doing what they do. A music therapist could spread awareness of their profession through social media while gaining publicity from it, perhaps by sharing a snippet of a group therapy session. One unrelated example of this comes from the Spud Man, a man who sells jacket potatoes in Tamworth, who became a viral online sensation just from posting clips of their daily routine in the potato van. Another way of marketing music therapy is through word of mouth. This could start by the therapist asking family friends to spread the word of their services, eventually gaining a client who requires their help. While not as fast as social media, it can be seen as more reliable because reviews will come from someone personal, and not a random account on the internet. Therefore, this shows that there are multiple ways to promote oneself as a music therapist thanks to the help of technology.
Challenges of music therapy
One personal difficulty a music therapist may find is maintaining the therapist-patient relationship, especially if the patient has been attending for a long period of time. Oedegaard, C.H. et al., 2023 discovered that “one therapist mentioned how ending therapy was “no fun for either of us””. This suggests that the therapist may have unconsciously formed an attachment with their patient, breaking the professional relationship that is expected of a therapist as they became friendlier with each other. This means a therapist may also find themselves emotionally worn out if such attachments exist, due to listening to their problems for a prolonged period. While such problems exist, therapists will be taught to combat this during their music therapy postgraduate degree through leaning “professional issues, such as ethics and multi-disciplinary working” (Queen margaret university, 2022).
Career progression within music therapy
Most music therapists starting out will seek for employers/organisations such as the NHS, local schools, or rehabilitation centres. According to NHS, n.d., some may decide to “specialise in a particular clinical area of interest such as child development, neuro-disability, mental health or palliative care”. As music therapy is an ever-growing profession, there will be an increasing amount of areas to specialise into, the most recent being “working with children pre-operatively and in special care baby units” (NHS, n.d.). The NHS also suggests that it is common for music therapists to simultaneously work for both an employer and be running a private practice on the side to earn more money.
An experienced music therapist may choose to “take on more managerial roles such as consultant music therapist” (NHS, n.d.), where they will be managing a group of music therapists. This could involve scheduling their timetables for their shifts, ensuring the welfare of their team, and general administration work such as producing patient files so the music therapists can acquire a better understanding of their patients beforehand. Alternatively, experienced practitioners may choose to further their knowledge of music therapy “by undertaking further study through a PhD” or by training other therapists/students (NHS, n.d.).
Conclusion
In conclusion, music therapy is an ever-growing industry that is becoming more and more well known to the public thanks to modern technology (social media). A practitioner should be kind and understanding towards their patients as the goal of all therapists is for the patient to eventually no longer require the help of the therapist. The route to becoming a certified music therapist can be heavily academic as both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree is needed to register for the HCPC, unless one opts for an apprenticeship instead. Ultimately, being as a music therapist can be highly rewarding in terms of salary as one works up to the managerial aspect (if working for a company), as well as the satisfaction of helping patients feel better coming out of each session.
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