Overview
Qualify to work as a music therapist in the UK and overseas on this Health and Care Professions Council-accredited course, and become eligible for registration with the HCPC in the UK. Study music therapy in the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, a centre of world-leading research. Discover the most recent effective music therapy approaches and try them out in your own clinical practice on at least two clinical placements.
Additional Descriptions
Qualify to register with the Health and Care Professions Council – a legal requirement for practising music therapists in the UK- Study on the longest established MA Music Therapy course in the UK, and the only one housed within a world-leading music therapy research institute
- Join a course that scored 95% for overall satisfaction in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2019
- Learn from experts about the implications of the latest neuroscience research on therapy practice
- Get first-hand experience of music therapy practice on supervised clinical placements
- Work in our purpose-built therapy centre, used for all our professional therapy consultations
- Get support from our team of internationally-renowned music therapists
- Train alongside our MA Dramatherapy students to experience interdisciplinary teamwork
Why study music therapy?
Studying music therapy will show you how you can use your music to support the health and well-being of patients and clients. You will discover the principles of music therapy in the UK and internationally, and through lectures, practical workshops, case discussions and theoretical studies, we’ll introduce you to the most recent, effective music therapy approaches.
You can then try out these approaches in your own clinical practice on clinical placements, in locations such as schools, hospitals, hospices and other community settings, under the supervision of qualified music therapists, giving you invaluable experience of working in a multidisciplinary team, as well as providing important preparation for your future career.
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, which is framed by psychodynamic, developmental and neuroscience approaches. 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.
Throughout the course, you will reflect on and develop your clinical practice through group discussions, tutorials and supervisions. You will also work alongside students from our MA Dramatherapy course on more generic subjects, such as psychiatry and psychology.
Why study music therapy at ARU?
Founded in 1994, our MA Music Therapy course will give you a strong foundation in the principles and practice of music therapy, underpinned by the latest research and evidence base.
Uniquely located within the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR), the course will give you the opportunity to learn from world-leading researchers in the field working in the centre. A rich offering of regular specialist lectures and workshops given by visiting International researchers, and our thriving PhD and post-doctoral research community, will broaden your training experience and give you insights into the international field of music therapy.
Our training is framed by psychodynamic, developmental and neuroscience approaches to music therapy, but you will also learn about other approaches and models. While providing you with a thorough grounding in these, we will help you integrate what you have learned with your existing strengths and skills to develop into a unique music therapist with your own effective approaches to clinical practice.
We welcome applications from practising musicians with appropriate experience from around the world, from a broad range of musical traditions and from diverse backgrounds. The influence of culture on music therapy practice is highlighted within our training and, for International students, we will also support you in the process of returning to your home country to implement what you have learned.
The MA Music Therapy course runs alongside our MA Dramatherapy course, with several shared modules and teaching sessions. You will have the benefit of learning with and from dramatherapy trainees and experienced staff, enriching your training experience.
Housed in a purpose-designed music therapy centre that also incorporates a clinic, you will be taught in lecture and therapy rooms equipped with an excellent range of musical instruments and recording equipment. You will also have access to the extensive facilities offered by Cambridge School of Creative Industries, including a recital hall, a suite of computer music studios and music practice rooms.
What will you do on the course?
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, practical workshops, case discussions, theoretical studies and clinical placements. Experiential learning is core to our training - you will further explore many theoretical ideas through musical improvisation and role-play. We will encourage your continuous self-reflection to support your development as a therapist, and you will take part in small group teaching for clinical improvisation and placement supervision, allowing close attention to be paid to your emerging skills.
Peer learning is also an important element of the training experience and you will work closely together with other students, giving feedback to each other. For some elements, you will be taught alongside the MA Dramatherapy students, and in year 2 you will work together with them on an improvisation-skills project, sharing techniques from both disciplines.
Learn from our experts
Your studies will be supported by our team of qualified music therapists, who have a strong reputation for world-leading research (Research Excellence Framework 2014). These include Professor Helen Odell-Miller, who co-founded the course, founded music therapy in the adult NHS mental health service in Cambridge and was awarded an OBE for her services to music therapy in the January 2015 honours list; Jörg Fachner, (Professor of Music, Mind and the Brain), Amelia Oldfield, (Emeritus Professor, awarded the first ever Clinical Impact Award by the World Federation of Music Therapists, and author of numerous books and videos, most recently co-author, Collaborations Within and Between Dramatherapy and Music Therapy); Claire Molyneux (author, Tales from the Music Therapy Room) and Helen Loth (Course Leader and researcher of music therapy and culture).
Course Leader: Dr Helen Loth.
- Careers
When you graduate, you will be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK, and ready to work as a professional music therapist. This registration is being valued increasingly in other countries.Industry links
You will undertake at least two clinical placements during the course, giving you a chance to try out different approaches to your clinical practice. These placements take place in schools, hospitals, hospices, specialist treatment services and community settings, under the supervision of qualified music therapists. This will give you invaluable experience of working in a multidisciplinary team, as well as providing important preparation for your future career.
We have strong relationships with a large range of placement settings, from which we select the specific placements which meet your learning needs and location. Some examples of placement settings we work with include East London Foundation (Mental Health) NHS Trust; Arthur Rank Hospice, Cambridge; MHA Care Homes for people living with dementia; Cambridge and Peterborough Foundation Trust; many mainstream and special schools; Evelyn Community Head Injury Service (ECHIS) Cambridge; The Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, London; Chiltern Music Therapy; Addenbrookes Hospital Child Development Centre and Paediatric wards; East Anglian Children's Hospices (EACH); Rampton Special Hospital; Great Ormond Street Hospital, London; and many others. Gaining a range of different experiences will prepare you for your future career, and several of our graduates gain employment within these placement settings after qualifying.
Our links with other health professions and practitioners, the British Association for Music Therapy, our International Research Consortium and visiting specialist lecturers will help you make important contacts in the profession. Through these relationships you can gain professional advice, in addition to employment and research opportunities.
Career routes
Qualifying as a music therapist will allow you to work in many different areas, including the NHS, hospices, social services, education and the voluntary sector. The NHS Agenda for Change has led to satisfying career paths for music therapists at levels similar to, or higher than, those of other allied health professions.
You can also choose to work privately or on a freelance basis, with a client base including adults and children with learning difficulties, mental health and other special needs, or with specific communities such as refugees or the homeless.
Successfully completing this course will allow you to register with the Health and Care Professions Council – a legal requirement for practising music therapists in the UK.
Graduate highlights
Jamal Glynn, Outreach worker with Ministry of Health in Trinidad and Tobago and the first MA Music Therapist in the world using the steelpan.
Rosie Axon, founder of Chiltern Music Therapy, an award-winning not-for-profit organisation that provides music therapy and community music to people of all ages across the UK. Together with co-director and fellow ARU alumnus Rebecca Atkinson, they now employ over 50 practitioners.
Rachael Finnerty, past president of the Music Therapy Association of Ontario, founder of the Ontario Music therapy Academy and recipient of the Woman of Distinction Award for Healthcare in 2015.
Spela Knoll set up the first Music Therapy study course in Slovenia and is founder of the Institute Knoll for music therapy and supervision.
Your department and faculty
Using our creative expertise and industry connections in Cambridge and beyond, we create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
At Cambridge School of Creative Industries, we believe in the importance of experimentation and risk-taking to create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
Whether writing bestselling fiction, creating challenging documentaries or sharing a piano with people on the autism spectrum, the expertise of our staff goes far beyond teaching. Their research produces significant funding success, leading to important publications and international conferences.
Specialist facilities
You'll work in our 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, and offers a large range of musical instruments specifically chosen for clinical work, as well as high-quality recording and videoing equipment in the therapy rooms.
You’ll also have access to the extensive range of facilities offered by Cambridge School of Creative Industries, including a recital hall, a suite of computer music studios and music practice rooms, a fully-equipped drama studio and two large drama rehearsal spaces.
You can see regular performances by professional musicians at our on-campus Mumford Theatre, including our free lunchtime concert series.
My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.