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Music Therapists

$60.8K Median Salary 2.4K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 14.9% Job Growth

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About This Career

Plan, organize, direct, or assess clinical and evidenced-based music therapy interventions to positively influence individuals' physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioral status.

Reported Job Titles

Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC), LCAT (Licensed Creative Arts Therapist), Music Therapist, Neurologic Music Therapist, Public School System Music Therapist, Therapist

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Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Expression

Problem Sensitivity

Oral Comprehension

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Fluency of Ideas

Information Ordering

Selective Attention

Originality

Auditory Attention

Category Flexibility

Hearing Sensitivity

Near Vision

Flexibility of Closure

Knowledge

Psychology

Therapy and Counseling

Fine Arts

English Language

Customer and Personal Service

Sociology and Anthropology

Education and Training

Skills

Social Perceptiveness

Active Listening

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Service Orientation

Speaking

Judgment and Decision Making

Learning Strategies

Monitoring

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Instructing

Negotiation

Persuasion

Writing

Systems Analysis

Time Management

Technology Skills

Office suite software

Music or sound editing software

Medical software

Electronic mail software

Internet browser software

Tools

Drums

Microphones

Zither

Pianos

Cymbals

Rhythm band sets

Bells

Electronic blood pressure units

Musical organs

Guitars

Notebook computers

MP3 players or recorders

Video games

Timpanies

Laser printers

Compact disk players or recorders

Digital voice recorders

Xylophones

Digital camcorders or video cameras

Fixed computer gaming console

Violoncellos

Musical flutes

Violins

Personal computers

Tablet computers

Electrocardiography EKG units

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

Knowledge

Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Fine Arts: Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sociology and Anthropology: Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills

Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Music or sound editing software: Music software
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Internet browser software: Web browser software

Tools

Drums: Kettle drums
Microphones: Handheld microphones; Studio microphones; Wireless microphones
Zither: Autoharps; Dulcimers
Pianos:
Cymbals: Orchestral cymbals
Rhythm band sets: Rhythm instruments
Bells: Handbells
Electronic blood pressure units:
Musical organs:
Guitars: Acoustic guitars
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
MP3 players or recorders: MP3 digital voice recorders
Video games: Video game machines
Timpanies: Timpani
Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Compact disk players or recorders: Compact disk CD players
Digital voice recorders: Digital audio recorders
Xylophones:
Digital camcorders or video cameras: Digital video cameras
Fixed computer gaming console: Video gaming equipment
Violoncellos: Cellos
Musical flutes:
Violins:
Personal computers:
Tablet computers:
Electrocardiography EKG units: Electrocardiography EKG machines

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