How Do I Become a Music Therapist?

Music therapy is still considered a "new" profession in the state of New Hampshire and I am frequently asked about my music therapy credentials by friends, parents, and other allied health professionals. You may or may not have heard about NH House Bill 1286 relative to the licensure of music therapists. As chair of the task for for music therapy advocacy in NH, I’ve been very involved with the process of the bill and one of the initial concerns when the process began was the question of our training and education. Today I'm sharing my personal journey to becoming a music therapist and some general facts about the training and qualifications of a board certified music therapist.​​

I began my education at the University of New Hampshire, studying piano, composition, music theory and music history. During my time at UNH, I studied several types of music from classical, to jazz, to popular music. I sang in the UNH choir, took piano lessons, and participated in small recitals and performances. I wrote music, I played music, and I studied others who had written and played music before me. When I graduated, I felt well educated but I didn't know what to do with my knowledge. I had not majored in music education as many of my classmates had, because I knew that I did not want to teach.

After graduation, I found myself working as a nanny for a young family. I spent many of my days creating music and dancing with the children to music, often songwriting during our play. I watched how music could help them through difficult transitions, inspire them to move, and allowed them to express themselves creatively. I started searching online for more ways that I could use music with families and came across the field of music therapy. I could see the only option for me was to go back to school to become fully educated in music therapy. From there, I applied, auditioned and got accepted to a Master's program at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

I spent three years at Lesley gaining a Master's degree in Expressive Therapies with a dual concentration in Mental Health Counseling and Music Therapy. I studied human development, assessment, counseling theories, cultural development, improvisation techniques, psychology and sociology. I learned to play guitar and became more confident using my voice in the presence of others. I refined my piano skills and learned how to apply all my knowledge of music theory in a functional way to target specific goal domains for a client such as cognitive, social, motor and communication skills.

I spent one year interning at a day program for adults with developmental disabilities where I provided several group therapy sessions, individual sessions, and received supervision from both a board certified music therapist and a licensed clinical social worker. I spent another year interning at a community music school working with school aged children and families. This hands on clinical experience consisted of more than 1200 hours of my clinical training. It was required of me to continue toward my music therapy career. I wrote a Master's thesis about the use of intuition in the field of music therapy. I served on the student board, co-founded a music therapy association in New Hampshire, and became a strong advocate for growing our profession. What better state to start with than my own.

After my Master's degree, I spent 3 months studying for my national board certification exam where I would soon pass, receive the credentials "MT-BC" and officially become a board-certified music therapist.  I participate in continuing education frequently to maintain my certification. I need at least 100 continuing education credits every 5 years to maintain my certification. I started and became chair of a task force for music therapy recognition in the state of New Hampshire and I hope that we are one day as widely known in our state and by insurance companies as the professions of speech, occupational and physical therapists are known and recognized. 

The training of a music therapist is extensive. Music therapists must graduate from a Bachelor or Master's level program from an approved college, gain clinical experience through 1200 hours of supervised internship, and become educated in music foundations, clinical foundations, and music therapy foundations. Music therapists must be competent and proficient in piano, voice, and guitar as well as skilled in improvisation and able to play percussion instruments. Music therapists must learn how to assess their clients, and create appropriate and relevant treatment plans, objectively document progress, and terminate with clients when therapy is no longer deemed appropriate. Music therapists are trained to use their music skills in a purposeful way to help their clients work toward their goals, to determine what is a beneficial music therapy experience and what could potentially be harmful to the client. Music therapists adhere to the Scope of Music Therapy Practice, Standards of Clinical Practice, Professional Competencies, and Code of Ethics. 

Believe it or not, I run into people all the time who tell me, “Oh I do music therapy!” and inside I cringe, because I know they don’t have the training and education that I just described above. These people are good hearted, talented musicians who want to use their skills to help, but they have not yet been trained and educated and many of them don’t even know that they need to be trained in order to call what they are doing music therapy. Sometimes I liken it to the field of physical therapy. Would you want someone who enjoys fitness and maintaining the physical body to rehabilitate you from an injury or would you want a licensed professional that you KNOW has the proper training and education? Personally, I would always choose the credentialed qualified person when it comes to my health. This is why HB 1286 is so important to us.

When I became a music therapist, there were only a handful of credentialed music therapists working in the state of New Hampshire. We now have over 30 and the profession continues to grow. Other states are far ahead of us, and have achieved state recognition through a state registry and in some states, a music therapy license. If you'd like to support our efforts toward state recognition in New Hampshire, contact me to discuss how you can help!

For more information about becoming a music therapist, visit www.musictherapy.org.