Music Therapy

Music therapy is a special education/mental health profession where engagement in active music making helps a client achieve non-musical, therapeutic goals. Educating the potential music therapist requires developing both a wide range of musical skills and the ability to work with people in a therapeutic manner. The ASU Herberger Institute School of Music music therapy program provides a strong education in both areas. Music therapy students study their major instrument/voice with an internationally recognized performance faculty.

Students have many opportunities to participate in performance groups. These include a top ranked orchestra, bands and choirs. In addition, ASU has ethnomusicology ensembles including African drumming, gamelan, mariachi and steel band. Music therapy students have a wide variety of opportunities to develop their clinical skills. Music therapy students also study musical improvisation, songwriting, world music and popular music styles.

The Music Therapy Clinic provides students with clinical opportunities to work one-on-one with children with various disabilities. Because ASU is located in a large metropolitan area, there are opportunities to do clinical practice in nationally recognized facilities including Barrow Neurological Center, The Mohammed Ali Parkinson’s Center, Hospice of the Valley and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. There also are a variety of opportunities to complete the required six-month internship in the Phoenix metropolitan area.