Music Therapy (BMT)

Degree Highlights

Your future professors work hard to make sure your academic experience is current, complete and designed to open doors in your career. Here are a few things you can count on: 

• Career-Ready Curriculum: Dive into a comprehensive curriculum designed to launch your career in music therapy. Our program combines technical musicianship with in-depth therapeutic training and extensive hands-on experience, equipping you to make a significant impact on your clients' lives.
• Client-Based Learning: Immerse yourself in diverse client interactions, ranging from children with developmental or physical disabilities to older adults with dementia. You’ll gain experience in both group and one-on-one therapy sessions, preparing you to address a wide range of needs.
• Clinical Training: Our program emphasizes practical experience through supervised clinical training. In your third year, you'll co-facilitate music therapy groups within developmental education classrooms, honing your skills in a real-world setting.
• Use Your Musical Skills: Leverage your major instruments in therapy sessions, and master percussion, piano, and guitar—skills taught at Laurier. This hands-on approach ensures you’re ready to integrate a variety of instruments into your therapeutic practice effectively. 

Top Experiences

Here are just a few of our students’ favourite ways to apply their learning in the real world throughout their degree (check out the Experience Guide for even more!):

• Community Placements: Our Music Therapy program includes clinical improvisation, case studies, therapeutic theories, and two years of supervised group and individual placements on campus and in the community.
• Internships and Certification: By your fourth year, you’ll be ready for professional practice with Laurier’s 1,000-hour internship through the Canadian Association of Music Therapy (CAMT). This positions you to take the Certified Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) exam upon graduation, enabling you to practice in both Canada and the USA.
• Associations and Networking: The Music Therapy Students Association (MTSA) provides events to support your academic, career, and personal growth. Engage in seminars, workshops, and volunteer opportunities to enhance your interpersonal skills.
• International Opportunities: Discuss international internship options with the experiential placements coordinator to ensure compliance with certification requirements. all must be supervised by a certified Music Therapist Accredited (MTA 

First-Year Courses

Students interested in the Music Therapy program will be required to take all of the mandatory courses for the Bachelor of Music, in addition to taking the following three courses as their 1.5 electives.

• MU158: Introduction to Music Therapy
• PS101: Introduction to Psychology I
• PS102: Introduction to Psychology II

Sample Upper-Year Courses

• Clinical Improvisation I and II
• Medical Music Therapy
• Music, Culture, and Community
• Music Therapy Internship I and II

Further Education

After graduating from the Music Therapy program, our students often continue their music therapy training by pursuing a master’s degree in music therapy. Other students have chosen to train in allied healthcare professions such as social work, psychotherapy, or occupational therapy, or to complete a Bachelor of Education to become a teacher. If you are interested in research, you may wish to choose a graduate degree with a research component.

You can apply to the Bachelor of Music Therapy at the end of your second year in Laurier’s Bachelor of Music. You must be registered Laurier's Bachelor of Music program to qualify for admission to the Bachelor of Music Therapy program. If you already hold a degree, you may wish to consider our Master of Music Therapy.

Admission is based on successful completion of the following courses:

• MU158: Introduction to Music Therapy
• PS101/102: Introduction to Psychology
• PS275: Introduction to Developmental Psychology, Infancy and Childhood
• PS276: Introduction to Developmental Psychology: Adolescence and Young Adulthood or PS377: Developmental Psychology: Adults and Elders

In addition, you must have:

• A minimum Music GPA of 7.0
• A minimum overall GPA of 6.0
• A minimum Psychology GPA of 5.0
• Successfully completed a Keyboard Facility Test

Admission requirements also include a 1-2 page written letter of intent, current resumé, and an interview and audition with the music therapy coordinator. The purpose of the audition and interview is to assess your musical, academic, interpersonal and self-reflective skills and your readiness for the Music Therapy program and clinical work.

Faculty of Music Scholarships

On top of any entrance scholarships, you may earn a Faculty of Music audition scholarship. Audition scholarships recognize well-rounded students who demonstrate strong technical ability, academic achievement, recreational/extracurricular involvement and/or financial need during their audition process. Roughly $100,000 is awarded to first-year students each year.

Financial success doesn’t end in first year; scholarships are available to upper-year students by application.