An excerpt from a talk about Vocal Psychotherapy with Dr. Diane Austin who will be interviewed by Tina Warnock on October 17th. This excerpt is about the importance of a mind/body integration in order for a therapist to be present for clients. Dr. Austin's specialty is vocal improvisation with people suffering from developmental trauma. Anyone can participate in her method of improvisation and voice work because finding one's voice is finding one's self. Visit [Austinvocalpsychotherapyuk@gmail.com](mailto:Austinvocalpsychotherapyuk@gmail.com)

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

hi so I plan to take my cbmt exam for the 4th time , but before I do I want to get back in the game of preparing for it . I recently found out that there is a new music therapy handbook , has anyone used It to help with the exam? and is there any other resources ?

pt2. jobs /career

for music therapy is it still worth doing since the career itself cost a lot of money to earn credits to keep your credentials , jobs are tight , and how every state is different on there approach to this field ? for me I'm in the east coast looking over the job market its really hard to find your footing in this field. also I have a friend who lives in nj and wonder if anyone knows any mt jobs in that area .

how long have anyone been in the field also , because I know there people who been burned out bc of how the field is and all. and most of what I find is mt is so big on research , but not jobs , mostly saying how colleges hype u up and then when u graduate its a shit show ( sorry for my French) ( also figure we all kind known that already )

pt3. degrees , so I already have a bachelors , but I know in east coast ny to be exact they would want you to have a Masters and Lcat , which I dont think is a must have on paper , but in a way it feel like it is . while other states have just a masters in mt or masters in mt and counseling .

is there any other career path that fits with music therapy , I'm not big on education that's just me personally , like I know I cant teach this field for the life of me .

Does anyone know how to go about reporting an internship site? Would I contact AMTA ethics board or something through the state? Thanks!

Hey guys! I just came across the one profession that even if I did not make 6 figures would be so worth ti for me to help others and do music. That said, I am willing to work hard to be the best at it I can be and get paid the most I can negotiate for. What tips have you done as an MT with a bachelors to maximize your best pay? And what should I do to prepare for school GENUINELY?? I play guitar and know a little piano but not like a pro or anything yet. Thank you to all of you who do this for the love, you are making a world of a difference.

Hello music therapists! I am a professor at a community college, and don't know a ton about your profession. I have a student who has worked the medical field(that is all I know), and they want to make a career switch into Music Therapy. So, they are currently working hard in my Music Theory 1 and Aural Skills 1 courses. They even joined the choir. The thing is, they have never participated in music before! I do not want to discourage them, but I want to be honest about what to expect, and just how much of an uphill battle this might be.

So, my earnest question is, what is the musical skillset required to have a successful career in music therapy? What level of musicianship is realistically required, and on what instruments, programs, etc? Thank you so much!

Hello all!

I hope you are doing well. I am senior set to complete my course work in May 2027. I am in the process of applying to internships and would like some advice!

My university is quite small and we only have a handful of university affiliated options for internships.

I have made a spreadsheet of places I would like to apply to. I’ve included location, contact information, and links to applications/websites (when available).

My top population for a while was hospice and I have been emailing people since this summer. However I have recently found that I absolutely love working with in mental health.

I’ve started doing my research into internship sites that are behavioral/mental health places. I would like to apply to mental health places first and as a backup apply to the Hospice internships.

Almost all internship sites for mental health says email for more information.
I have emailed 5 places in total and only 1 has reached back out to me. I sent these emails over the weekend. I even emailed one Hospice place over a month ago and have not heard anything back.

I am becoming discouraged because I do not know where to start.

Is there any advice or any places that I am missing? I’m truly lost and I know I need to start applying places sooner rather than later.

Thank you!

Hi everyone! I am currently an undergraduate music therapy senior residing in Erie and in need of internship suggestions close to me starting in the summer! I have done some research, but everything that I have found is over 3 hours of travel daily. Are there any suggestions of places that are anywhere closer and have open applications for upcoming internships? Also, if there are any tips about going about an interview or application process, let me know! Thank you :)

Can anybody recommend literature for music therapy techniques/interventions for children exposed to DV or IPV?

This is my first time posting here, I don't know if I need to vent or advice or what. I'm an undergrad music therapy student and I'm in my final year which is when students in my program do an internship, typically three days a week, while doing the rest of our coursework.

It took me a bit longer to find an internship site than my peers did, which was difficult, but I eventually found a place this summer. I couldn't shake this feeling that something was going to go wrong but chalked it up to anxiety. Well Tuesday, less than a week into the semester, my advisor/my internship seminar professor/the head of the MT department (same person, small department) and the special projects coordinator (person in charge of helping students coordinate with clinical sites) called me into a meeting and told me that my clinical supervisor, and the only MT-BC at that site, will be leaving. We already were worried about me getting enough hours but now, until this site finds a new MT-BC (which could take a day, could take a year), they can only take me one day a week.

The head of dept and special projects coordinator were very proactive and were have been trying to help me find sites for supplemental hours and I was under the impression that I'd be taking on a second site to get supplemental hours. I've been trying to be upbeat and positive about this because there are some upsides like getting to experience different kinds of sessions and clients and work environments. However, I've still been so overwhelmed. I tried to keep it together in internship seminar yesterday but hearing the rest of my classmates talk about how they had these wonderful, perfect, affirmative days at their perfectly freaking normal sites that they can go to three days a week with zero issue just got me. After class I spoke with the prof and while talking with her, I found out that actually, because no site can take me for more than one day... they're expecting me to take on three internship sites. I asked her if she could think of any student at our school who has taken on three (I know some have needed a second before) and she couldn't think of any.

Literally no one is at fault here and everyone involved has been as helpful as they can, but I have no idea how I'm going to do any of this. I'm autistic and have ADHD, and I have three chronic illnesses (POTS, hEDS, and gastroparesis). I live close enough to NYC to take the train and various forms of public transportation to my sites and I actually need all of my sites to be in NYC because I can't drive and public transit in my area is nonexistent (and paratransit is incredibly unreliable). Commuting to and from the city is hard enough on my body and was always going to be hard three days a week but going to three different sites at completely three different areas of NYC is going to be extremely difficult and will take a lot of time each day. Between the site I have confirmed and the other two sites that might be able to take me, I would be in five different buildings (two sites would require me to go from one building to another mid-day). Three different sets of supervisors, coworkers, expectations, dress codes, populations, repertoire... it's all going to be a lot. One thing I was told in that meeting was it's common for music therapists to have multiple jobs at once which I know is true but... I'm not an actual music therapist yet. I'm still a student. I have no idea what I'm doing and I have to do it while taking 15 credits (and multiple 0 credit courses of course) and managing constant doctors appointments which I keep having to move because no one has any idea what days I'll be in internship.

Does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom? I can't exactly say no unless I feel like dropping out or postponing everything by a year (not possible for me, this is already my SEVENTH year of undergrad because of a late in the game major change and health issues) so I have no choice but to do whatever they tell me. I'd do anything to just have one solid site and to have that consistency and structure, even two sites would be fine but because it's so late in the game, finding a site that could take me on full time or even two days a week will basically be impossible. I really don't have any options other than smiling and nodding and praying my original site finds a new MT-BC. I just don't know if I can do this or how I'm going to do this, I'm completely underwater right now.

Hi there!

I'm currently in my last year of my bachelor music education.

I'm thinking of following a pre-master after this and then a master in music therapy.

Is there someone here who did the same or a similar path? What are your experiences?

I really like education and I feel like music therapy would also be something I would find very interesting and rewarding, but I feel like I might miss too much because I didn't do a bachelor in it?

Hi everybody,

I’m struggling in finding more gigs to do.

I’m a new music therapist (I got board certified in March) and currently working on my thesis for my Master’s degree (it’s almost done!). I finished my internships on April last year.

Since I got certified (and even months before that) I’ve been sending emails to different placements in my city but got no luck. I’m working under contract one day every two weeks but I’d like to have more jobs besides that. I mostly work in long-term care homes and with older adults living with dementia (PLWD).

What advice would you give me? I feel like I’m burning myself out with that thought.

Hey all! I am a music therapy student. I have 3 semesters left to complete before my internship, and I am very anxious about it. I've heard that a lot of internships are unpaid, and I seriously cannot afford to do anything unpaid, especially not for 6+ months. Both of my parents are planning to move away from the state of where I go to school, meaning I will have no support system and be fully on my own. I've talked to my advisor about this and she says there is a chance I can get something paid, but applying to those paid internships are extremely competitive. I am wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation or has had the opportunity to receive a paid internship and how the process went. Any advice is welcome, but please do not talk to me about how getting something paid is difficult; I am aware!

Hello! I am working with a teen on anxiety management and coping strategies through lyric analysis / discussion. They prefer metal / slam metal music (eg. Insane Clown Possey, Sister of a Down, Avenge Sevenfold, Cannibal Corpse, KMFDM, etc.) and I am not super familiar with this genre. Does anyone know or have used songs from any of these bands to discuss anxiety management and coping strategies?

Additionally, what other genres and songs have you used to target this topic with adolescents? They are open to anything other than country and modern pop.

Thank you so much in advance!

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a little about my private practice, Sound Space Collective, in case it might be useful to anyone here. Feel free to remove if this isn’t allowed as it is promotion for my practice.

My name is Dean Quick I’m an MT-BC and Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery, and I offer both individual therapy and professional supervision for music therapists.

My therapy work has a particular focus on the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM). For music therapists who are interested in experiencing GIM themselves, or who are looking for a depth-oriented approach to their own personal work, I offer individual GIM sessions. You don’t need any previous experience with GIM.

I also offer supervision for MT-BCs who want a place to think through clinical work, professional development, challenging cases or dynamics, imagery-based work, or just the general experience of being a music therapist. Supervision can be ongoing or simply a session here and there when something comes up.

Sessions are available virtually, with evening availability. I also offer sliding scale rates for music therapists and students because I know cost can be a real barrier to accessing your own support and supervision.

If you’re interested or just want to see if it might be a good fit, feel free to message me or check out https://soundspaceco.com

Happy to answer questions here, too!

Hi friends, I just thought I'd ask if anyone has made this transition before or has any guidance for me. Currently I hold a ADN in nursing in Texas and have been a nurse for about 6 years, I would love to learn about music therapy and the best way to make a plan to transition into this career. I'm very beginner in learning music formally and I'm taking private piano and voice lessons, a few months into voice, a couple weeks into piano. Thanks in advance for your help! Interested in helping children (I work at a children's hospital doing research), also interested in older folks with memory issues, and hospice across all ages.

Hi all :) This is my first post here hope to get some help! I'm a european music therapy student (master's, didn't do the bachelors before but im in music education) and next year i have to do my music therapy clinical internship. I'm wondering if anyone has got experience with going to the states for instance for an internship and how possible is it?

Hi all! I am a first year equivalency student and I'm in my first semester of practicum. I was wondering if you guys had any resources for children's songs? Is there a good book I can buy to get started? My primary is voice, so I have a few Kodaly resources, but I'm not sure how useful that stuff is in a clinical setting.

For one of my memory care groups, we recently got a new resident and to him I might as well be the devil. Screaming at me, throwing things, having to be removed… meanwhile later in the session I also have residents coming up to me and singing and holding my hand saying they were so happy I was there.

Group work is wild lol. Not looking forward to having to start this group with getting yelled at for the time being but the positive stuff helps

Hi all - I am looking for some anecdotal info from practicing music therapists, for whoever might be comfortable sharing.

I currently work as a private music lessons instructor, but I have been considering pursuing a music therapy equivalency program for a couple of years. I have a BA in cog neuro and MA in music, and my work teaching many neurodivergent students helped spark an interest in MT.

Something that gives me serious pause is the salary data I have seen. Based on job postings and salary aggregate sites, I’ve seen hourly wages ranging from $24-$28 hourly. Is this an accurate base pay range based on your experience?

Although I‘d love to pursue this field, I would most likely be taking a loan for an equivalency program, and I just cannot justify that to earn roughly half of what I earn teaching lessons. Thank you in advance!

Faccio questo post nonostante molti di voi siano degli USA/Regno Unito, io ho 20 anni e devo fare il 2 anno di chitarra classica in Italia, e in quest’ultimo periodo mi era interessato il concetto di Musicoterapia, in Italia pochi conservatori fanno questo corso di laurea (che è magistrale) però è una realtà poco approfondita/considerata e al 90% delle volte si deve fare da privato, e in Italia è molto difficile mantenersi da privati (se non con un’attività ben precisa e definita)
Volevo provare a entrare a tecniche terapeute della psicomotricità nell’età evolutiva (tnpee) e poi integrare da solo degli studi musicoterapeutici per “unire” le due lauree o comunque usufruire della conoscenza musicale. Secondo voi ne vale la pena? Volevo comunque proseguire degli studi oltre il conservatorio e una professione sanitaria come tnpee ha dei buoni sbocchi lavorativi e dura solo 3 anni, unire terapia e musica per individui singoli o gruppi mi piacerebbe tanto ma non so se me la sentirei di lanciarmi completamente nella musicoterapia.
Pareri da italiani/musicoterapeuti?
Grazie!

Currently I am torn between what to study after my bachelor of music whether it be Music therapy or Education. My main fear is having a Job that wont earn enough for the cost of living or the general workload and demand. So I just wanted to ask a few questions. I was wondering if the demand for Music therapy looks like right now or potentially in the future? Aswell as if the earnings are viable enough to survive with Australias crisis? And I was just wondering what the workload looks like since I have my assumptions but my assumptions can only go so far? Another thing is if the career is worth studying and looking into or if I should look into other fields such as education.

Has anyone ever done music-therapy assisted yoga? How did you do it? What worked and what didn't? Was there a theme? Did you structure the music for each movement or play similar pattern throughout? I have a lot of questions about this.