Get professional training in music therapy on our internationally recognised Master’s course. When you graduate, you’ll be qualified to work as a music therapist in the UK and overseas, and eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK.
Overview
If you’re an experienced musician and want to put your skills to use supporting children and adults with additional needs, our emphasis on clinical placements will prepare you for a rewarding career.
Through lectures, practical workshops, case discussions and theoretical studies, we’ll introduce you to the most recent, effective music therapy approaches. You’ll reflect on your own practice in our clinical supervision group discussions, supported by regular individual tutorials.
In the UK there are two central elements of music therapy: the use of improvised and pre-composed music; and the significance given to the relationship between client and therapist. These principles will underpin your training. Our experiential teaching includes: development of your improvisation skills; focused work on your first instrument; keyboard, single line instrument and voice; music therapy theory and links to practice; block clinical placements in at least two fields, including community settings, schools, hospitals and hospices; and experience in multidisciplinary teams.
Your training will take place in our new state-of-the-art Music Therapy Centre and Clinic, where you’ll often study with MA Dramatherapy students. All our students go on supervised clinical placements, preparing you for employment in many different settings.
Throughout the course you'll be supported by our team of qualified music therapists, who have a strong reputation for research. In 2013 we appointed Jörg Fachner as Professor of Music, Mind and the Brain, to further develop our research activities. One of our course tutors, Professor Amelia Oldfield, was recently awarded the first ever Clinical Impact Award by the World Federation of Music Therapists. And in 2014, our music, dramatherapy and performing arts research was acknowledged as 'world-leading' in the UK Government's Research Excellence Framework.
Teaching times: two days a week plus two days on a clinical placement (Year 1). One day a week on campus plus a placement of least one day a week (Year 2).
Careers
As a qualified music therapist you’ll be able to work in many different areas including the NHS, hospices, social services, the education sector and the voluntary sector. The NHS Agenda for Change has led to improved career paths for music therapists at levels similar to, or higher than, those of other allied health professions.
You may also choose to work privately, or on a freelance basis, with a client base including adults and children with learning difficulties, mental health problems, and other special needs.
Successful completion of this course will allow you to register with the Health and Care Professions Council, a legal requirement for music therapists in the UK. Your qualification should also be recognised around the world.
You’ll benefit from our links with the British Association for Music Therapy and other allied health professions; Professor Helen Odell-Miller, for example, advises at government level for the profession. You’ll also be able to forge links with practitioners such as psychotherapists, arts therapists and psychiatrists.
Modules
Year one:
• Music Therapy Practical and Clinical Skills
• Music Therapy and Dramatherapy Multi-Disciplinary Theoretical Studies
• Clinical Placements and Experiential Development (1)
Year two
• Clinical Placements and Experiential Development (2)
• MA Therapies Major Project
Assessment
You’ll demonstrate your learning in a number of ways, including essays, live presentations and practical tasks such as clinical improvisation and composition. You’ll also undertake some self-analysis and reflection with your personal tutor.
Half-way through the course, your progress and process towards becoming a music therapist will be assessed by an examiner. Your final piece of written work will be a Major Project, which involves clinical evaluation. Meanwhile, in your final oral assessment you’ll present a piece of clinical work to two examiners, who will assess your overall clinical skills and readiness to practice.
One of our modules touches on dramatherapy and covers content from our MA Dramatherapy, as well as the Music Therapy course. Where techniques and approaches are specific to each profession you’ll be taught separately but on more generic subjects, such as psychoanalytic studies, psychiatry and psychology, you’ll benefit from working together.
Specialist facilities
You'll work in our new purpose-built therapy centre, which includes state-of-the-art therapy rooms and a large hall. The centre is used for all of our teaching and for our professional therapy consultations. We have a large range of musical instruments, specifically chosen for clinical work, and high-quality recording and videoing equipment in the therapy rooms.
You’ll also have access to the extensive range of facilities offered by the Department of Music and Performing Arts, including a fully-equipped drama studio, two other large drama rehearsal spaces, a recital hall, a suite of computer music studios and music practice rooms.
Our Cambridge campus also houses the Mumford Theatre, a full-size venue for professional touring companies.
Research
Our music therapy staff members are internationally renowned researchers and consultants and our research is recognised as world-leading. We hold regular international conferences and support a vigorous community of research students.
***This course has now reached full capacity for September 2016 but we are now accepting applications for September 2017***
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