Music Therapist
What the work is
Plans and delivers music therapy interventions to improve physical, psychological, cognitive or behavioural skills and function.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Conducts assessments to determine health and wellbeing goals and therapeutic needs
- Creates individualised treatment plans that incorporate music therapy interventions to address clients' specific needs and goals
- Collaborates with clients, their families, significant others and other stakeholders to establish a client-focused treatment plan
- Selects and adapts music, musical instruments and equipment for use in treatment
- Creates and plays musical instruments, compositions, arrangements or scores for therapeutic purposes
- Documents evaluations, treatment plans, case summaries and progress reports
- Collaborates with other Health Professionals in multidisciplinary teams to provide comprehensive assessment, intervention and treatment
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a group home for adults with disability, and the offices of a disability support provider. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A person you support joins an outing they once avoided, and enjoys it
- Support workers tell you that the plan has made afternoons calmer
- A family member says they finally feel they are working with the team
Hard days
- A plan that is on paper looks good, but a tired team does not follow it
- A family and a service disagree, and you are caught in between
- Writing detailed reports while a deadline bears down on you
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 261933, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.