The Canadian Association of Music Therapy defines music therapy as “a discipline in which credentialed professionals (MTAs) use music purposefully within therapeutic relationships to support development, health, and well-being. Music Therapists use music safely and ethically to address human needs within cognitive, communicative, emotional, musical, physical, social, and spiritual domains.“
The Importance of the MTA credential
To be a Certified Music Therapist (MTA), a therapist must have completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Therapy, a 1000-hour clinical internship, and have passed the Board-Certification Exam for Music Therapists. This ensures that a Music Therapist is held to a high standard of ethics, musicianship, and education so that they can best support the well-being of their clients.
A Music Therapist will work with each individual to identify goals and objectives. Some examples of potential session benefits include:
- Opportunities to express and communicate safely
- Improved fine & gross motor control
- Strengthened engagement skills
- Decreased isolation
- Psychosocial rehabilitation
- Greater availability of coping strategies
- Reduced pain-perception and symptom management
- Sensory regulation
- Relaxation
- Improved speech
Where do music therapists work?
Music Therapists can work in a variety of settings, such as:
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Long-term care facilities
- Hospices
- Correctional facilities
- Community programs
- Private Practice
- In-home visits
- Rehabilitation centres
- Substance use and addictions centres