Music Therapy is growing in visibility, which is fantastic. However, many people still have limited ideas about what Music Therapy actually is — and what it isn't.

In honour of World Music Therapy Week, we’re breaking down some of the most common myths Music Therapists encounter, drawing from real practitioner experiences and broader reflections within the profession.

Whether it’s assumptions about what the work looks like, or confusion about the depth and range of practice, it’s clear there’s still much to clarify and celebrate.

This week marks #GreenerAHP Week, sparking essential conversations about sustainability in healthcare - including the role of Music Therapy in addressing the climate crisis. We’re delighted to welcome back Jim Davey-Hewins to the BAMT blog as he reflects on the intersection of environmental sustainability and mental health, and offers five actionable challenges that Music Therapists can take to contribute towards positive change.

We’re grateful to Jim for his thoughtful contributions and hope his reflections inspire meaningful change within the profession.

Qualifying as a Music Therapist and establishing your career can be a challenging and intense experience, but an exciting one too. 

Engaging in regular CPD helps new Therapists navigate the complexities of different client needs, while building a strong professional foundation and connecting with new peers and mentors. To mark CPD week, a new campaign led by the HCPC, Xenia Horne has shared some thoughts about how CPD has shaped her journey.

Part one: Why I love adoption work 

When working with adoptive families, our Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) work is limited, and as such, we have to begin the work with the end in mind. So when I was asked to write about why I love working with adoptive families, I automatically went to the final aim of the work. My aim with each family is to use Music Therapy to help them love each other a little more in their daily lives. Let me explain…

Adoption is one preferred form of family for children removed from their first family to grow up in. It is hoped that adoption is a means of such children finding stability, certainty, security and love, in order to grow. However, adoption is always a trauma for the adoptee who loses not only their birth parents, but all ties to family, culture and social life.

Crystal has worked in various settings with children of 0-19 both in and out of the NHS. She is a keen advocate for Makaton and enjoys exploring new possibilities of how Music Therapy can be offered. Julia has worked with children across education, NHS and community settings. She is also a mum to twins who help her develop her turn taking strategies at home!

Ray Travasso is a Music Therapist and trained at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London and graduated with a Masters in Music Therapy in 2002.  Ray works part-time at The Treehouse, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and is also Director and co-founder of Suffolk Music Therapy Services, an organisation that provides Music Therapy to children and adults across East Anglia. Ray manages an amazing team of 15 highly skilled and trained music therapists and is keen to increase access to Music Therapy to more organisations and individuals across the region.

Dr Ming Hung Hsu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research and Music Therapy Lead for the national charity MHA. He currently works on the Homeside study funded by Alzheimer’s Society.

Jenny Kirkwood has worked as a Music Therapist for 13 years in paediatric and adult learning disability, mental health and paediatric palliative care. From 2016-2019 she managed a team of therapists working in a range of settings across Northern Ireland, and was involved in service development, quality assurance and governance. She has also been involved in research projects into Music Therapy in palliative and end-of-life care with Queen's University Belfast.

Jenny currently works as AHP Coordinator for the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland, scoping and reviewing Allied Health Professional services as part of the. Health and Social Care Transformation agenda in Northern Ireland.

Dean Beadle is a conference speaker and inset trainer, sharing his experiences of being autistic. He works in the UK and abroad.

Facebook: @dean.beadlespeaker

Instagram: @deanbeadlespeaker