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Music TherapyCourse

Explore how music can support emotional wellbeing, foster connection, and promote personal transformation.

Whether you’re personally interested in the therapeutic potential of music or supporting someone beginning their music therapy journey, this course offers a meaningful introduction to the principles and practices of music-based support.

Course overview:

Certified

Accredited

9 Modules

Study Group Access

Earn reward points

What Will You Learn?

The Music Therapy Diploma Course offers an in-depth exploration of how music can be used to support wellbeing and personal growth by introducing the principles and practices of music-based therapeutic support. This course combines theoretical insight with reflective, experiential learning.

You’ll begin by discovering what music therapy is and how trained professionals use music in supportive roles across a range of settings. From anxiety and depression to dementia and autism, you’ll explore how music may be adapted to meet diverse needs and encourage emotional engagement. You’ll also trace the development of music therapy as a recognised complementary practice, from its historical roots to its modern applications.

To bring the concepts to life, the course includes a guided exercise to help you reflect on the emotional and sensory effects of music-based activities—offering insight into how these elements can influence mood and wellbeing.

As the course progresses, you’ll explore various approaches used by music therapists, including songwriting, improvisation, guided listening, and instrumental engagement. While this course does not train you as a registered music therapist, it offers a foundational understanding of how music may be used in supportive or non-clinical settings.

You’ll also examine how music therapy principles relate to mental health and emotional wellbeing, including their use in stress reduction, mood regulation, and behavioural support. The course explores scientific research on the therapeutic effects of music on the brain and body, including applications in pain management and neurological care.

Each module includes reflective summaries to reinforce key concepts. Whether you are exploring personal development or enhancing your existing holistic or educational practice, this course offers meaningful tools and perspectives for using music with intention and care.

By the end, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation of the role music can play in emotional connection, resilience, and self-expression.

This course is ideal for those interested in exploring a career in music therapy but who are not yet ready to commit to a full professional qualification. It may be especially appealing to musicians considering music therapy as a future path or as a meaningful addition to their current work.

Therapists, psychologists, teachers, counsellors, coaches, carers, nurses, and social workers with an interest in music will also find the course beneficial, gaining insight into how music may be used to support wellbeing and emotional expression in various settings.

The Music Therapy Diploma Course is also a valuable resource for individuals planning to work with a music therapist, or for those supporting someone in therapy, who wish to better understand the practice and its potential benefits.

Music Therapy as a Career

To practise as a registered Music Therapist in the UK, you must complete an HCPC-approved master’s degree in music therapy and gain state registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). This course does not qualify you to practise as a professional music therapist but offers a useful introduction to the field and a stepping stone for further exploration.

Introduction
Part 1: What Does 'Music Therapy' Mean?
Part 2: Listening Exercise
Part 3: A Short History of Music Therapy
Part 4: What is Music Therapy Used for Today?
Part 5: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 1 Assessment

Part 1: 1-2-1 Music Therapy
Part 2: Kinds of Music Therapy
Part 3: Contemporary Frameworks of Music Therapy
Part 4: What Kind of Music can be used for Therapy?
Part 5: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 2 Assessment

Part 1: Music Does Not Have to Be Rigid
Part 2: What to Do When Clients Don’t Respond
Part 3: Song Writing and Methods
Part 4: How to Know That Song Writing Is Working with Your Clients?
Part 5: Improvisation
Part 6: Music Therapy Group Improvisations
Part 7: Why Improvisation?
Part 8: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 3 Assessment

Part 1: Why is Music Therapy a Good Idea?
Part 2: What Kinds of Mental Health Issues can be Treated?
Part 3: Other Behavioural Issues
Part 4: Music Therapy for Behavioural Issues
Part 5: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 4 Assessment

Part 1: An Overview of Autism
Part 2: How to Use Music Therapy for Patients with Autism
Part 3: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 5 Assessment

Part 1: Why Is Research in this Area Important?
Part 2: Some Outstanding Research
Part 3: Future of Music Therapy
Part 4: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 6 Assessment

Part 1: Music Therapy for Pain Relief
Part 2: Success Stories for Pain Relief
Part 3: Existing Research
Part 4: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 7 Assessment

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Music Therapy for People with Learning Disabilities
Part 3: Music Therapy for Dementia
Part 4: Music Therapy and Neuro-Disability
Part 5: Music Therapy for people on the Autism Spectrum
Part 6: Summary
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 8 Assessment

Part 1: What We Learnt
Part 2: Next Steps

The Music Therapy Course will take you up to 150 hours to complete, working from home. There is no time limit for completing this course, it can be studied in your own time at your own pace.

This is a Level 3 course and will give you 150 CPD (Continued Professional Development) points.

Upon completion of your course assessments, you receive 2 certificates. A certificate from the Centre of Excellence and a CPD certificate displaying the number of CPD points earned from the course.

Many Centre of Excellence courses are Fully Accredited by the world’s leading professional membership association for natural medicine – The Complementary Medical Association (The CMA).

You can apply to join The CMA as a Student Member while you are still studying, and if you do so, you will be eligible to use the post-nominal letters CMA after your name.

Upon graduation from a qualifying course, you will be eligible to apply for CMA Membership, and this will give you numerous professional benefits, including being able to use the letters MCMA after your name – Member of The Complementary Medical Association. This will demonstrate your commitment to excellence and professionalism in the natural healthcare field.

Register with The CMA as a Student or fully qualified Practitioner via the CMA website. You will be asked to submit your certificate of graduation and proof of insurance.

The CMA’s recommended insurers are Westminster global.

This course is endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme. Therefore, upon successful completion of this course, learners can also receive a certificate of achievement from Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary, which lists the details of all the units the learner has completed as part of the course. (This certificate is optional and costs an additional £25).

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through their awarding organisations they have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. They are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Their knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables them to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

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FAQs

There is no time limit for completing your course it can be studied in your own time at your own pace.

All of our courses vary in length but most of our courses will take you between 50 - 250 hours to complete. The length of this course can be found in the Accreditations section above.

Once purchased your course is located in your Learning Centre on our website. Please log in using the same email address that you used when you purchased your course.

You can purchase a printed copy of your course materials at the checkout or from within your Learning Centre at any time after purchasing your course.