Music can inspire, lead, comfort, and heal. As a music therapist, you’ll use your knowledge and abilities in music to help people live better lives. Music therapy is a fast-growing field and Carroll University is one of only two institutions in Wisconsin offering an AMTA-certified music therapy degree. Music therapy is useful for a wide variety of patients, from infants to the elderly and those suffering from trauma, injury, illness, and disease. It can help reduce anxiety and stress, coax movement, generate social interaction and improve a patient’s quality of life in numerous ways. Music therapists work in diverse settings–from clinics and hospitals to schools and homes. In our program, you’ll study music, gain proficiency in an instrument, and also acquire the qualifications to be a therapist, learn clinical skills with patients, and prepare for professional practice.
Carroll University’s music program has a long and proud history and our health science programs have a national reputation for excellence. In the music therapy major, you’ll learn from our expert faculty from both programs. It’s also one of very few undergraduate therapy degrees available, meaning you’ll have a quick path to a rewarding job. And this is a booming career, with a projected 8-14 percent job growth in the next decade.
In this major, you’ll develop musical skills in singing, guitar, piano, and percussion and learn about music theory. You’ll also study psychology, anatomy, biology, and physiology.
You’ll begin clinical placements as soon as your second year, first observing a music therapist at work and then assisting. You’ll have several more clinical experiences, culminating in a six-month internship, where you’ll observe and provide music therapy services under the direct supervision of a certified music therapist. You’ll learn how to assess, treat, document, and evaluate your patients. In addition, you’ll learn to communicate empathetically, establish therapeutic relationships and gain an awareness of ethical principles and current standards of practice.
Upon completion of this program, you’ll be prepared to take the certification exam offered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists.
Additional Music Majors
Carroll University offers two additional majors within the music program.
Music Major
Music Education Major
