Master of Music Therapy Equivalency

Requirements

Equivalency credits: 27
Master's credits: 32
Total credits: 59

Admissions and Retention

Students are admitted to the Master of Music Therapy Equivalency program through completion of a formal application process. The process involves an interview, submission of a song portfolio, and submission of transcripts. Students interview with department faculty on their audition day. The song portfolio should include recordings of prospective students accompanying themselves on piano and/or guitar while singing a minimum of 10 songs. The songs should be from at least 4 genres, e.g., children's songs, R & B, country, folk, sacred, pop, songs of the gaslight era, hip hop, jazz, etc. Faculty review of the song portfolio may result in the addition of piano and/or guitar coursework to the student's curriculum. Prior to admission, transcripts must include proof of undergraduate degree completion and proof of satisfactory completion of substantive coursework in music theory, music history, ensemble, and primary instrument lessons. Prior to graduation, transcripts must include proof of satisfactory completion of behavioral sciences pre-requisites.

Degree progress stipulates a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher and "B", "B+" or higher grades in all music therapy (MUTH) courses. Students will be placed on probation should their cumulative grade point average drop below 3.0. Those students placed on probation in this circumstance are required to raise their grade point average to a 3.0 or above within one semester to remain enrolled in the program. Students will be placed on probation when they earn a "B-" or lower grade in completed music therapy courses. Students placed on probation in this circumstance are required to repeat all music therapy courses in which their grade is a "B-" or lower. Students must earn a "B" or higher grade in a repeated music therapy course to remain enrolled in the program. Students may repeat music therapy courses once. As the music therapy program does not offer trailer sections of courses, it is important to note that required course repeats might extend a student's on-campus curriculum beyond the course sequence articulated on their curriculum sheet. Students will be placed on probation when they earn scores lower than a Level 2 in multiple and/or a key area of Professional Dispositions and Characteristics Rubric. Key areas include Availability to Learning, Oral Communication Skills, Written Communication Skills, Professional Dress, Critical Thinking Skills, Respect for Other, Response to Feedback, and Commitment to Diversity and Equity. Students on probation are not eligible to apply for internships. Eligibility to apply for internship will be reinstated after the student has been removed from probation.

As a grade point average of 3.0 or higher and grades of "B" or higher in music therapy courses are not necessarily sufficient for successful attainment of an internship, the music therapy program provides students with a proficiency exam to assist them in assessing their progress toward internship. Students are required to pass the Equivalency Proficiency Exam before beginning second year music therapy courses. During this exam, faculty evaluate students' musical, professional, and academic competence (see Music Therapy Student Handbook for further information). The proficiency exam must be passed to remain enrolled in the program.

Students are required to submit four updated clearances to the Music Therapy Department in August of each fall semester. These include TB test results (2-step in the first year of coursework, 1-step each subsequent year of coursework), FBI Criminal Background Check, Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, and Pennsylvania Criminal History Record Check). Federal, state, and institutional requirements for clearances can change with little notice; it is the student's responsibility to meet clearance requirements as notified. Timely submission of clearances is required to remain enrolled in practicum courses. As the music therapy program does not offer trailer sections of practicum courses, it is important to note that disenrollment from a practicum course might extend a student's on-campus curriculum beyond the course sequence articulated on their curriculum sheet.

The successful completion and defense of a capstone project is also necessary for completion of the program.

Students have a 7-year window to obtain the degree. After 7 years, students have the option to appeal for a one-year extension; students can make two such appeals.

Behavioral Sciences Courses (17 credits)

These courses may be transferred from another institution and are pre-requisites.

Program Learning Outcomes

Equivalency

1. Students will demonstrate functional music skills related to voice, piano, guitar, percussion, conducting techniques, and movement.
2. Students will demonstrate basic knowledge related to the clinical foundations of music therapy practice and music therapy practice as set by the American Music Therapy Professional Competencies.
3. Students will demonstrate professional, ethical, and cultural reflexivity in clinical and educational settings.
4. Students will use their music skills, their music therapy knowledge base, reflexivity, supervision, and the scholarly literature to engage in clinical music therapy practice.

Masters

1. Students and graduates will apply philosophical tenants and clinical techniques of humanistic, psychodynamic, and community-engaged practice in diverse healthcare settings.
2. Students and graduates will develop the capacity for cultural reflexivity - including but not limited to effectively assessing the ecological systems that comprise their culture and their patients' cultures - that enables ethical and effective partnering with patients in community-based healthcare settings.
3. Students and graduates will demonstrate expertise in the provision of psychotherapy to diverse patient typologies in community-based and medical healthcare treatment settings.
4. Graduates will develop the capacity for critical analysis of their practice and the healthcare systems they work within. Students will:
   • Identify knowledge deficits in both their clinical practice and the broader literature base
   • Formulate research questions and/or clinical inquiries that can be used to collect and analyze data
   • Systematically evaluate collected data to construct conclusions directly responsive to the formulated research questions
   • Utilize these conclusions to directly inform and shape their practice
   • Share and disseminate conclusions to colleagues in music therapy and closely related fields through scholarly presentations and writings
5. Graduates will be positioned to become leaders in the field and in their respective communities and healthcare systems by assuming one or more of the following roles: clinical supervisors, patient advocates, clinician-researchers, and clinician-educators.

Core Music Therapy Courses and Pre-requisites for Each Course

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 601
Course Title: Applying Research in Clinical Practice
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 603
Course Title: Music as a Cultural Practice of Health
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 605
Course Title: Professional Development: Ethics, Advocacy, and Advancement
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 610
Course Title: Music and Health in Community
Pre-requisite(s): Music as Cultural Expressions of Health & Professional Development: Ethics, Advocacy, and Advancement

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 621
Course Title: Music Psychotherapy in Medical Contexts
Pre-requisite(s): Music as Cultural Expressions of Health & Professional Development: Ethics, Advocacy, and Advancement

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 630
Course Title: Capstone Project I
Pre-requisite(s): Applying Research in Clinical Practice

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 631
Course Title: Capstone Project II
Pre-requisite(s): Capstone Project I

Graduate Electives

Music Therapy Electives

These courses are offered on a rotating basis and may only be available in select semesters.

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 625
Course Title: Clinical Supervision: Models and Techniques
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 622
Course Title: Existential Humanistic Psychotherapy
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 611
Course Title: Verbal Processes in Music Therapy
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MUTH 615
Course Title: Independent Study
Pre-requisite(s): None

Interdisciplinary Electives

Course Subject Code and Number: MLLS 711
Course Title: Clinical Supervision: Organizational Communication
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MLLS 712
Course Title: Decision-Making and Problem Solving
Pre-requisite(s): None

Course Subject Code and Number: MLLS 714
Course Title: Conflict Resolution
Pre-requisite(s): None
Registration for MLLS electives is capped at 5 music therapy students per section.

Course Subject Code and Number: GPNG 526
Course Title: Healthcare Ethics in Practice & Policy*
Pre-requisite(s): None
*Subject to course instructor approval

Course Subject Code and Number: MLSP 285
Course Title: Spanish for Therapy Professionals
Pre-requisite(s): None

Curriculum

Music Competencies (12 credits)

Music competencies may be demonstrated through successful completion of the Equivalency Proficiency Exam.

Year 1 - Fall (11 credits)

Year 1 - Spring (9 credits)

Year 2 - Fall (13 credits)

Year 2 - Spring (9 credits)

Year 2 - Summer

Year 3 - Fall (7 credits)

Year 3 - Spring (10 credits)

¹ Pre-requisites include Introduction to Psychology and Fundamentals of Statistics.

² The Equivalency Proficiency Exam may be taken in first or second year dependent upon piano, voice, and guitar qualifications. Piano, voice, and guitar qualifications may be reached through on-campus group coursework and/or off-campus private instruction.

Clinical Training

Completion of the Masters in Music Therapy Equivalency program requires 1,200 hours of clinical training. This training occurs in pre-internship clinical practica and internship courses.

Pre-internship clinical practica consist of supervised clinical training experiences with at least three different populations. These four courses are taken during the two-year, on-campus curriculum. The student must accrue a minimum of 300 clinical training hours during them.

The internship consists of an in-depth, supervised clinical training experience. It is completed after the on-campus curriculum and prior to graduation. The student must accrue a minimum of 900 clinical training hours during internship. Students apply for an internship site from the institution's roster of affiliated internships or from the national roster of American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) approved internship sites. Students are eligible to apply for internship when they have satisfactorily completed the undergraduate pre-requisite skills, the proficiency exam, and the following coursework:

1. Music Therapy Orientation
2. Music Therapy Equivalency Practicum (150 hours of clinical training)
3. Music Therapy and Physical Health
4. Music Therapy Internship Preparation

and are within two semesters of completing the on-campus Equivalency curricular requirements. The application process requires a Letter of Eligibility from the director of music therapy. After satisfactory completion of the above curricular requirements, failure to progress toward satisfactory completion of the GMTEQ curriculum, including 300 hours of pre-internship clinical practicum and a passed proficiency exam, will result in revocation of Letters of Internship Eligibility. Eligibility to apply for internship will be reinstated after the student has satisfactorily completed the GMTEQ curriculum including 300 hours of practicum.

Students are eligible to attend internship when they have satisfactorily completed the GMTEQ curriculum, including a minimum of 300 hours of pre-internship clinical practica. Students who have applied to internship, been accepted, but not completed the GMTEQ curriculum before an internship start date, including a minimum of 300 hours of pre-internship clinical practica and a passed proficiency exam, will be required to forfeit any internship offers until the work has been completed. Letters of Internship Eligibility will be revoked until completion of the above is documented. Eligibility to apply for internship will be reinstated after the student has satisfactorily completed the GMTEQ curriculum including 300 hours of pre-internship clinical practicum.

Eligibility for and acceptance to internship is not guaranteed. Dissolution of an internship agreement with an internship director on the basis of a student's conduct or state of health will result in disenrollment from the program. Students must complete the internship within two years of completing the on-campus curriculum.

Graduation and Board Certification

Students are eligible to walk at graduation ceremonies when they have completed all degree requirements.

Students are eligible to receive the Master in Music Therapy Equivalency and sit for the Board Certification Examination for Music Therapists upon successful completion of all degree requirements. The board certification examination is designed and administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). If the exam is passed, the credential earned is Music Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC).

Completion of this degree prepares students for advanced competency as a music therapy clinician, supervisor, and educator.