Music Therapy MA

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.

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.