The music therapy program at Shenandoah University is one of only two programs in the state of Virginia, and our 42-year old program is a hub for music therapy activity in the community.

As a working professional, we understand your need to balance your studies with your professional life. All courses are taught in intensive retreats (typically 4 each semester) that allow you continue working. We work to directly apply the knowledge you develop in the classroom into your clinical work, through supervision and practical assignments.

We also seek interdisciplinary collaborations. This includes interdisciplinary research seminars in the Conservatory, and case collaborations with the graduate nursing program as part of our expanding relationship with the health sciences.

Students applying to the MMT program are eligible to apply for a graduate assistantship. Each assistantship provides partial tuition remission, along with a small stipend for each semester the student holds the assistantship. In addition to the financial benefits of an assistantship, students have the opportunity to:

• Teach music therapy classes, under the supervision of music therapy faculty
• Assist in the development of courses, through dialogue and feedback with course faculty
• Mentor students in the Professional Studies Certification program
• Develop supervisory skills through the direct supervision of undergraduate and Professional Studies Certification students, in both academic and clinical settings.

For more information about graduate assistantships, please contact Dr. Meadows ameadows2@su.edu

The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) provides annual salary data for music therapists, updated each year and available online for review (www.musictherapy.org). In their 2015 analysis, the average salary from professionals with a Bachelor’s degree was $46,740.00. Music therapists with a Master’s degree earned, on average, $55,019.00. The average music therapy salary in Virginia is $52,263.00.

Highest Level of Education	Number	Average Salary	Median Salary	Salary Mode	Salary Range
Bachelor’s Degree	311	$46,740	$42,000	$40,000	$10,000-$420,000
Master’s Degree	308	$55,019	$50,000	$40,000	$12,000-$375,000
Doctorate Degree	64	$81,617	$70,000	$100,000	$45,000-$180,000

Music therapists continue to work in a wide range of settings, with diverse groups of clients, including geriatric facilities (15%), medical settings (14%), mental health settings (12%), private practice (12%) and children’s facilities/schools (11%). 26% of music therapists are now business owners.

 

Shenandoah Conservatory has changed my life. Decades ago I completed my undergraduate degree in psychology because I didn’t have either the courage or the vision to make my life all about my greatest passion —music. For more than 30 years I’ve been a choir director in the a cappella Barbershop harmony style and found deep satisfaction working with older adults. When we learned that my first child was on the autism spectrum I became aware of the field of music therapy and became a parent advocate in our local school system. Then the faculty of the Music Therapy department at Shenandoah Conservatory inspired me to change the course of my life. With their guidance I’ve become a board-certified music therapist and am completing my Master of Music Therapy degree. Through the strong ties the conservatory has with the Winchester community, I was given the opportunity to pursue research in the use of therapeutic choir singing to improve the vocal function of people with Parkinson’s disease. The music therapy profession is broad and dynamic; our training at Shenandoah affords us the opportunity to work with, for example, children and adults with disabilities, older adults, veterans, at-risk youth, and people recovering from traumatic brain injuries. From the start, my faculty advisors got to know me, tailored a plan to suit me, and invested themselves in seeing me thrive. Now I’ve started my own practice, New Leaf Music Therapy, and look forward to a future full of possibilities.”

—Richard Lewellen, Master of Music Therapy ’15

Like music therapy itself, our program emphasizes discovery, in which you learn more about yourself, your strengths, and areas for development. We place a strong emphasis on mentorship, and our advanced supervision opportunities provide you with the individual attention needed to deepen your understanding of yourself, music, and the therapeutic process.

Classes are small, and built around dialogue. While new concepts and materials are always introduced and developed in our classes, experiential learning, discussion and debate occur across the curriculum.

For example, in MUTH 616 Contemporary Improvisational Practices, students worked on a variety of improvisational methods and techniques through experiential exercises and classroom demonstrations, integrating this directly into clinical practice through classroom assignments. After completing the assignment, students report on the session, offering a video (when ethically permitted) or audio analysis for discussion and feedback.

View Full Music Therapy Curriculum

Kerry Devlin ’17, M.M.T., MT-BC

How Do I See You, and What Does that Mean for Us? An Autoethnographic Study | Music Therapy Perspectives (Spring 2018)

In my clinical practice with non-speaking clients on the autism spectrum, I have questioned my understanding of who the people I work with are and how that informs what we do together in therapy. This autoethnographic study provides a narrative account of my early music therapy practice informed by the question “How do I see you, and what does that mean for us?” Autoethnography provides a fitting framework for reflexive questioning, as it requires me as both researcher and participant to turn the lens inward and examine my own experiences as a music therapist. Through narrative dialogues about an impactful client encounter, I explore my clinical perspective in order to understand how I see my clients and how this impacts the world we create together during sessions.

Ray Leone ’86, ’17, M.M.T., MT-BC

Impact of an Active Music Therapy Intervention on Intensive Care Patients | American Journal of Critical Care (Spring 2019)

Background: Nonpharmacological interventions appear to benefit many patients and do not have the side effects commonly associated with medications. Music-based experiences may benefit critical care patients.

Objective: To examine the effect of an active music therapy intervention on physiological parameters and self reported pain and anxiety levels of patients in the intensive care unit.

Methods: A study was conducted using a pretest-posttest, within-subject, single-group design. The study population consisted of a convenience sample of 52 patients. Study participants received a 30-minute music therapy session consisting of either a relaxation intervention or a “song choice” intervention. The music therapist recorded the patients’ vital signs before and after the intervention, and patients completed self-assessments of their pain and anxiety levels before and after the intervention.

Results: After the intervention, significant decreases (all P < .001) were found in respiratory rate (mean difference, 3.7 [95% CI, 2.6-4.7] breaths per minute), heart rate (5.9 [4.0-7.8] beats per minute), and self-reported pain (1.2 [0.8-1.6] points) and anxiety levels (2.7 [2.2-3.3] points). Outcomes differed between the 2 intervention groups: patients receiving the relaxation intervention often fell asleep.

Conclusions: The results of this study support active music therapy as a nonpharmacological intervention in intensive care units. This study may lay the groundwork for future research on music therapy in critical care units using larger, more diverse samples.

Lelia Emery ’18, M.M.T., MT-BC

A Randomised Controlled Trial of Protocolised Music Therapy Demonstrates Developmental Milestone Acquisition in Hospitalized Infants | Acta Pediatrica

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of an intensive-intermittent vs. standard spaced protocolised music therapy intervention on supporting developmental milestone acquisition of infants >44 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) hospitalised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Method: This was a comparative effectiveness study of infants 44–66 weeks PMA with a projected NICU stay of at least one month from recruitment. Infants were randomised to one of two treatment groups: traditional therapy (2x/week) and intermittent-intensive (4x/week, off, 4x/week, off). Both groups received the same number of sessions over a 4-week period. Sessions at the start and end of the treatment period were video recorded. Two masked researchers reviewed and coded videos. Milestones used for video recording were adapted from the Developmental Assessment of Young Children.

Results: Twenty-four infants participated, with groups matched for birth age, PMA at start of study, race, IVH severity, and respiratory support. Total and motor composite scores were higher post-intervention (Cohen’s d = 0.71 and 0.97, both p < 0.01), with the same degree of skill acquisition found for both intervention groups.

Conclusion: A developmental music therapy protocol supports developmental skills acquisition of post-term infants in a NICU. Similar outcomes for both groups provide therapists with varying treatment dosing options to best support their patients.

Allison (Echard) Terrell ’14, ’18, M.M.T.,  MT-BC

Making Sense of Self: An Autoethnographic Study of Identity Formation for Adolescents in Music Therapy | Music Therapy Perspectives (Fall 2019)

Told through my experiences of working with three teenagers who had mild and moderate developmental disabilities, this autoethnographic study considers identity formation as a core concept in music therapy clinical practice. In doing so, I explored theories of identity formation, including those described by Erikson (1950, Childhood and society, Norton), Marcia and colleagues (1993, Ego identity: A handbook for psychosocial research, Springer), and Crocetti, Rubini, and Meeus (2008, Journal of Adolescence, 31(2), 207–222), relating these concepts to each of the teenagers I worked with. This article, therefore, chronicles the ways in which my clinical thinking shifted from a skills-based approach to one that considers the client’s identity as a whole, leading to suggestions of ways to integrate identity formation theory into clinical practice.

Johanna Horn ’19, M.M.T., MT-BC

Music Therapy for Hospitalized Antepartum Patients: A Pilot Study | Music Therapy Perspectives (2022)

This pilot study reports the benefits of individual music therapy with 5 mothers hospitalized due to complications related to their pregnancies. These 5 expectant mothers, hospitalized for a range of reasons, participated in 1–5 music therapy sessions focused primarily on their emotional well-being. An analysis of data from the Antepartum Bedrest Emotional Impact Inventory revealed significant changes (p = 0.0006) in the emotional health of these expectant mothers after their music therapy sessions. An analysis of postsession questionnaires suggested four primary types of emotional benefit: (1) improved connections to family, (2) normalization of the hospital experience, (3) emotional relief, and (4) new resources to manage the hospital experience. These benefits are described within the context of the music therapy sessions, along with a discussion of practical challenges that arose while implementing music therapy in this hospital environment.

Valerie Jackson ’12, ’16, ’19, M.M.T., MT-BC

Music Therapists’ Experiences and Perceptions of Harm in Music Therapy Clinical Practice | Music Therapy Perspectives (in review)

Twelve music therapists were asked to recall harmful events in their everyday clinical practice in order to characterize the nature of these harmful events. In total, 62 harmful events were identified and subsequently analyzed using procedures consistent with qualitative content analysis. Four categories emerged that characterized these harmful events: (1) emotional harm, (2) physiological harm, (3) physical harm, and (4) relationship harm. Each of these categories is defined and described and then discussed in terms of clinical practice, education and training, and future research.

Cassie Byers ’19, M.M.T., MT-BC

Professional Identity Formation of Early Career Music Therapists | Music Therapy Perspectives (2021)

In this study, 15 early career music therapists were interviewed about their academic, clinical, personal, and early professional experiences to define the key characteristics of their professional identity formation. Subsequent analysis of these data revealed that for these music therapists, early career identity formation was characterized by 3 developmental tasks: (1) formulating a professional identity, (2) identifying and practicing a preferred working style, and (3) moving from a single approach to practice and drawing from a variety of theories and approaches. Furthermore, their early career identity formation was characterized by 4 sequential subphases: (1) openness to change, (2) experiencing complexity, (3) freeing up, and (4) increased confidence. Barriers to healthy identity formation were also discussed. Implications for education and training, along with the importance of facilitating mentorship opportunities for early career professionals, were proposed to connect the findings to academic and professional life.

Shana Oshiro ’13, ’21, M.M.T., MT-BC

Race and #RealTalk: Engaging in Dialogue about Racism in the Community | Voices (in review)

Martina Bingham ’18, D.M.A.

Defining the Therapeutic Singing Voice: An Analysis of Four Music Therapists’ Clinical Work | Music Therapy Perspectives (Spring 2019)

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways music therapists use their singing voices in music therapy sessions and, in doing so, to provide a working definition of the therapeutic singing voice. Four music therapists were observed leading at least 10 music therapy sessions each in order to examine the ways they used their singing voices in clinical practice. Interviews with each of these therapists, at the completion of session observations, enriched these observational data. Data were analyzed in two stages. First, individual singing voice profiles were developed for each music therapist, and second, these profiles were integrated to define essential singing voice characteristics. These characteristics included flexible postures and physicality, diverse breathing methods and strategies of phonation, flexible resonance strategies, improvisational skills, and knowledge of diverse music genres. Implications for vocal education and training in music therapy programs are discussed.

Admission to Shenandoah Conservatory graduate programs is highly competitive and the audition schedule fills rapidly. Early application and audition registration is recommended. 

Conservatory Graduate Application Information

Applicants must have a Bachelor’s Degree in music therapy or creative arts therapy with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), Music Therapy Board Certification (MT-BC), and one year of full-time clinical experience, or equivalent.

After applying, you must arrange an audition by emailing Dr. Meadows at ameadows2@su.edu. In order to be admitted into the graduate music therapy program, you must be admitted into the Shenandoah Conservatory and pass the audition/interview.

The audition is one hour and divided into two parts. In the first part, you perform one piece on your primary instrument (that reflects your skills) and a total of four songs on piano and guitar (two each), in which you sing and play. Choose a range of styles that reflect your interests and skills, including children’s songs, pop, folk, show, jazz, blues and “oldies.”

In the second part of the audition, you will be asked a range of questions about your interest in music therapy, your background experiences, goals and general knowledge of the field. You will also be given the opportunity to ask questions about the program.

Please note that the piece you perform on your primary instrument should reflect your musical training. Typically, this means performing a piece from your undergraduate studies (and/or current training), from either the classical or jazz tradition. This piece does not need to be memorized, and for vocalists, an accompanist is not provided. Vocalists may bring an accompanist, a recording to provide accompaniment, or sing acapella.

Scheduling An Audition

Auditions can be arranged in one of two ways. For applicants who live close to campus, auditions are scheduled on campus during the week, or selective weekends in the spring semester. Typically, students will meet with Dr Meadows in Ruebush 216, in the main conservatory building. On-campus parking is free, and generally readily available. Students living more than 150 miles from campus can elect a Skype interview. These are arranged directly with Dr Meadows, and can be scheduled most days of the week, pending availability.