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Course

As a musician, music educator or music therapist, you have already experienced first-hand some of the ways music can make a difference in people’s lives. The need for music therapy and music-based interventions in both individual and community healthcare is only growing, so we are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date knowledge to be at the forefront of this promising field. 

What will you learn at the Music Therapy master’s course?

At the master’s course Music Therapy, you will deepen your clinical, musical and research expertise. Guided by choices laid out in a self-authored personal study plan, you will investigate the effect of music and/or music therapy on a population of your interest. This will further contribute more research and innovation to the music therapy profession. The course is built on three fundamental pillars:

  • During the course you develop your musical skills by integrating them into your music therapy practice. The focus is on the notion of (per)forming identity: in your exploration of yourself as a music therapist, by using music for and with your clients, in music’s clinical effect, and in how you go about shaping and describing these musical experiences in an evidence-based manner. You will also explore the use of music technology and conventional musical instruments in the diverse music and music therapy courses offered. Lastly, counselling and self-care offer further opportunities for self-exploration using music. Musical and Improvisational Skills: through musical improvisation, mastering different musical genres, and exploration of your own relationship to music with your peers, you will develop your own musical identity. Counselling and self-care offer further opportunities for self-exploration using music. This pillar consists of the following electives:

    • Improvisational skills (3 EC)  
    • Applied Music Technology (2 C) 
    • Counselling and Self-care (2 EC)  
    • Community Music Therapy (2 EC) 
    • Community Music Therapy Elective (4) in this elective, you will complete a community project with coaching by ArtEZ faculty, which can then be further developed as your final research project 
    • Free study point (1 EC) 

  • Thisprogramme trains you to develop advanced evidence-based music therapy models and musicalinterventions within a variety of clinical contexts. From the selection ofmusic therapy courses, you can choose to specialize in clinical approaches of your interest, including assessment procedures. The courses cover neuroscience-informed evidence, the role of music, the therapeutic relationship, andprofessional collaborationsas key aspects of clinical practice. 

    • Neurologic Music Therapy (3 EC): this course includes certified NMT Basic Training and clinical masterclasses, and involves clinically applying NMT principles, under supervision,in the weekly Parkinson’s group on campus.  
    • Music Therapy Advanced Approaches (3 EC) 
    • Cognitive Behavioural Music Therapy (2 EC) 
    • Professional Skills (1 EC)  
    • Music Therapy Microinterventions Elective (4 EC) ): in this elective, you will develop music therapy microintervention, which can then be further developed as your final research project 
    • Integral Music Therapy in Medical Settings Elective (4EC) in this elective, you will learn about integral models in music therapy in medical settings and develop clinical interventions 
    • Supervised Internship or Clinical Work Experience (10 EC). A professional music therapist must provide proof of a certain number of work hours completed; graduate students entering the programme from the pre-master’s course must complete 280 hours of supervised clinical internship during the programme. An internship slot must be found before beginning this study programme.   

  • Research is at the heart of this master’s course. During the course, you will set up and conduct original, individually supervised research on the effect of music and music therapy on an interest group of your choice.  Your research project could entail a feasibility study, a community music therapy project, innovations in musical intervention, or a literature review. Your research supervisor will guide you through the process of designing, conducting, and communicating your research. You will learn more about music-based research in the study groups. Furthermore, our various networks with other universities, NGOs, healthcare facilities and the ArtEZ Professorship in Music-Based Therapies and Interventions are completely at your disposal. 

    Through crafting a paper and giving presentations, you will learn how to present and explain your results to professional music therapists and other health-related disciplines. Your research will contribute to the professional field of music therapy, healthcare-related disciplines and, ultimately, people’s health. You can visit our yearly Master of Music Therapy Symposium to listen to our graduates. Research subjects include: 

    • Evidence-based music therapy (4 EC) 
    • Research designs and analysis (4 EC)  
    • Research project (15 EC) 
Master's Music Therapy. Photo by: Christein van Hoffen

 

The master’s in Music Therapy at ArtEZ offers weekly music therapy sessions for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. Our students actively participate in the sessions, giving them an opportunity to improve their advanced clinical skills. 

Thanks to the master's course, I now speak the language of the people in my professional field, such as doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. I am now better able to see the interconnections and produce the reasoning to support my ideas. That improves collaboration.
LIZZY DINGHS, alumna

Curriculum: full-time and part-time route

You can choose to take the course in the creative environment of the ArtEZ Academy of Music in the 1-year full-time ‘on-campus’ route. Alternatively, you can decide to study from your own country or city in the 2-year part-time hybrid route. 

  • The on-campus route is taught on a weekly basis on Thursdays and Fridays through a mixture of on-campus lectures and online classes. In addition to these two days of lectures, you will need to complete either a supervised internship (if you have taken the ArtEZ pre-master’s course) or work-experience hours (if you are already working as a music therapist). Outside of the programme classes, you can also participate in the many weekly activities that take place on campus*, as well as in the Music Therapy Group for Parkinson’s patients. The full-time course load is approximately 40 hours per week. 

  • The hybrid route uses the same syllabus as the full-time route and is taught every Friday online. In addition, you will participate in three intensive weeks each year. During the first year you will have an additional week on campus to complete the NMT training and masterclasses.  The part-time programme is designed for those who wish to combine work and family life with graduate education from their own city or country.  You will carry out your clinical hours (work experience or 280 hours of supervised internship) in or near your place of residence. The part-time course load is approximately 20 hours per week. 

Connect by Music

Since the beginning of 2018, the ArtEZ Music Therapy Department has enjoyed a collaboration with Connect by Music, an organization that organises musical projects for refugees, most of whom are children. Incorporating music therapists into the existing permanent staff of Greek professional music teachers makes it possible to offer even more tailored support to the children. In some of the locations, Connect by Music works only with music therapists.  

The results after several sessions are really remarkable. Children are able to open themselves up again and connect with each other. By now music therapists from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, have joined the Connect by Music team on a temporary basis. In the past period, several students and alumni of ArtEZ Music Therapy were active at Lesbos.