Advanced Training in Music Therapy with Premature Infants: Impressions from the United States and a Starting Point for Europe

Abstract

This article describes the role of music therapy in neonatal work, and introduces two US-based music therapy advanced-training programmes in Florida and New York City aimed at music therapists who are interested in working in neonatal care. Advanced training is common in the United States and is relevant for therapists wishing to specialise in particular areas of work, or to further extend their general clinical skills. The task of achieving a high professional level of music therapy practice that supports the use of different therapeutic approaches and guarantees therapist mobility within Europe is a unique challenge. There is a review of the two existing neonatal music therapy training programmes and an exploration of how similar courses might be designed and implemented in Europe, along with a list of recommendations. The authors suggest that training opportunities would serve to further raise the professional profile of music therapy in Europe and establish this young and expanding field as an important therapeutic approach in neonatal care.