I have mentioned before that I am not entirely content with my master’s course in music therapy at SRH University Heidelberg (SRH). Now that I have studied music therapy at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) in Canada for one year, the divide between what my home programme offers and what is possible seems bigger than ever. In this article, I want to share my personal perspective on the shortcomings and advantages of the program and draw a conclusion.
Journey To Music Therapy is dedicated to sharing comprehensive information on music therapy training, while also taking the opportunity to reflect on my personal experiences of becoming a music therapist. I hope this blog inspires you to explore the possibilities of music therapy, guiding you in finding the right path for you.
Course Content
The contents covered in the first year of the graduate music therapy programme at SRH were introduction to therapy sciences, introduction to music therapy, psychology and clinical psychology, psychotherapy, neurology, quantitative research methods, self-experience, and instrumental skills in piano, guitar, and percussion. From what I understand, the module “introduction to research in the therapeutic sciences” will be an optional module before the start of the first term for all future cohorts.
Psychology
Psychology, psychotherapy, and neurology were a focus in the first year, in line with the specialisations mentioned on the website (SRH, n.d.a). One of the big reasons why I chose SRH was this proclaimed specialisation which none of the UK universities matched. However, I was disappointed to discover that the content did not go more in depth than my specialisation in psychiatry during my bachelor’s degree in social work. Although I learnt some new aspects concerning psychology foundations and psychotherapy orientations, I had learnt about mental health conditions in greater detail in my bachelor’s. At other universities in the UK, psychological background knowledge is tested in the letter of motivation, and in Canada, courses in introductory, abnormal, and developmental psychology are a prerequisite to the master’s. I wish a similar model would be in place at SRH, so that the time set aside for these foundations could be used for music therapy applications. Neurology was a new topic for me. I had almost no previous knowledge and I acknowledge that I benefitted from this module a lot. Besides neurological foundations and neurological disorders, we also focused on neurological music therapy techniques. This seems to be a unique characteristic of SRH, as other universities don’t include it in their curriculum but refer to the additional training course in Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) (Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy, n.d.).
Music
Music is the area that I felt I needed to improve most in my first year to become a competent music therapist, since mybachelor’s degree is not in music. I have many years of experience in playing piano and guitar. However, the piano classes for students whose main instrument is piano, didn’t elevate my skills significantly. Other students felt the same, especially those who had a bachelor in piano performance were underchallenged. The focus was on simple pop and folk songs as well as pentatonic and blues scales. The one thing I took away was the pentatonic scale in different keys and patterns, as it is helpful for improvisation.
The guitar class – I chose guitar as my secondary instrument – turned out to cater to beginners, as it was not required for admission to be proficient in both piano and guitar. Luckily, I managed to switch to a more advanced class in the bachelor’s degree. Bachelor’s students have more high-level music classes because they have piano and guitar for two semesters, respectively, whereas master’s students get one semester per instrument.
Percussion was the part of the music module that I would not have wanted to miss. Although I had had sporadic drum lessons before, the class was the perfect challenge level for beginners and advanced players. I enjoyed the class greatly. I saw the rhythm exercises introduced by the teacher as a great resource for structured music therapy activities. The class included a wide range of instruments: conga, cajon, snare, and small percussion. Considering the accessibility of percussion instruments to clients and the importance of rhythmic grounding, I really appreciate that SRH offers these lessons, as percussion skills seem to be overlooked in many other programmes.
Practical Applications
With classes pertaining to psychological theories, verbal psychotherapy skills, and musical skills separately, the integration of those for practical applications of music therapy was lacking. We had specific classes dedicated to practical applications, but they did not give me a robust tool kit for music therapy. Instead of isolated classes, I believe a music therapy programme should incorporate a practical focus throughout the whole degree. I remember many occasions where the students were asked in these classes come up with practical applications after a theory input. Music therapy models apart from NMT were not addressed. Rather, students were asked how they would translate psychotherapeutic models to music therapy, whereas it seems more useful to me to address music therapy models in the first place. I recognise that it is important to further creativity in that regard, but I believe it is better to teach existing models, methods, and techniques first. This would expand the students’ understanding of music therapy and build their repertoire of interventions, forming the base for creative adaptation.
Furthermore, the format of classes did not favour active engagement in my opinion. Although practical applications classes integrated role plays of musical and verbal skills, they were not frequent enough for me to become accustomed to the therapist role. This heightened anxiety concerning practical exams and internships. The musical experiences were focused on free and referential improvisation, incorporating Wigram’s (2004) musical and therapeutic techniques. These techniques have benefitted me a lot, yet I would have preferred a broader range of musical experiences. When role playing of musical interventions took place, it was often in front of the whole class. At Laurier, this was also the case, but additionally there was time to work privately in duos or trios and the atmosphere when presenting was more supportive. Indeed, at Laurier, the class itself resembled a therapy session, with the instructors modelling therapy skills and attitudes for students and the students practicing interventions with classmates. The practical aspect was also at the forefront because students brought their continuous internship experiences, while the instructors showed vulnerability, flexibility, and appreciation, shared anecdotes from practice, and were open to questions.
Self-Experience
Lastly, self-experience sought to increase our self-reflection, understanding of group processes, and music therapy skills. The experiential class provided a space to bring our own concerns. However, sometimes a common thread was missing, as every session was dedicated to a new topic. I would also criticise the number of self-experience classes which is low in the international comparison. At the International Day at HAN University, I heard of bachelor’s programmes with 200 hours of self-experience, whereas the master’s at SRH provides 84 (based on the premise that hours in the first and second year are the same).
Structure
The master’s degree is structured in five-week blocks, according to the CORE principle (SRH, n.d.b). Instead of having multiple subjects side by side throughout the semester, the subjects are sequential. At the end of each block, the module of that block is completed through an exam. SRH (n.d.b) describes this framework as conducive to sustainable learning by immersing oneself in one topic at a time. I can see the benefit of focusing on one topic and one exam only. However, I profit from learning different things alongside each other, as the knowledge from one module will stimulate ideas in the other. This seems especially important in cultivating an eclectic music therapy practice which responds flexibly to the client’s needs. My biggest criticism is that the five-week blocks seem to stand in the way of addressing a topic in depth and building long-lasting knowledge and skills. For example, with improvisation techniques only addressed in one block, these skills are built up quickly but not sustainably. Considering the credit points, the amount of content in a block module should be the same as in a module spanning one semester. Nevertheless, the classes in the CORE structure do not appear more frequent or denser than when I studied university programmes with the common semester structure. Homework and exams also strike me as less extensive than in my other university experiences. I would like the programme to be more demanding, as this would translate to more learning and confidence.
Moreover, the CORE principle implies that the schedule changes every five weeks with a new block. What I wasn’t aware of when starting was that even within one block, the schedule is inconsistent. This makes it difficult for students to schedule work, free time, and childcare around classes. Additionally, the exams still accumulate sometimes, with multiple exams for one module and on module stretching longer than five weeks and ending at the same time as another module.
In the winter semester, there was a period with fewer classes. This was due to the longer music module including self-experience ending before the end of the semester. It ends arbitrarily after 15 weeks, although five more weeks are left in the semester. Possibly, this is due to the intent of making the music module in the winter semester equal in length to that of the summer semester which is shorter. Nevertheless, the time is not ideally used.
Exams
I believe exams are an important part of the learning process. The exam formats that I encountered in my first year were written exams, a therapy demonstration, a therapy session plan and reflection, a presentation, musical performances, and a research report. Written exams made up the majority. Coming from my study exchange at Laurier which was packed full of assignments, I think the programme at SRH could have included more in-depth papers and practical exams and dare I say more exams in general? What I mean is having multiple elements, like a presentation, paper, or role play, counting towards the grade of a module with varied percentages. In my opinion, this would be a more honest reflection of a students’ work, as the grade would not depend on a single assignment. I believe that formats beyond written exams can support a practical focus of the studies. For example, while we wrote an exam on psychotherapy orientations at SRH, the assignment at Laurier consisted of conducting a 50-minute mock psychotherapy session and classifying the use of techniques according to different psychotherapy models covered. Therefore, the exam format directly contributed to learning.
Side Note On Language
Although I chose the English track of the master’s programme, all our lectures were together with the German cohort. This is important to note for those wishing to study the German track. I find it unfair that the applicants do not get the programme they expected and pay tuition for. The communication around this was lacking, so that students only learnt about the change in their first week of studies. I think it is also important in music therapy to know the terminology and be confident in verbal strategies in the language that you want to practice in. The merging of cohorts is might have been due to the small size of both, but since the university had planned for two distinct lectures, I find it unacceptable to compromise the study experience like this.
Research Opportunities
One of my major reasons for deciding for the programme at SRH was the opportunity to be involved in research projects (SRH, n.d.a). I declared my interest right away, but it took some time until there was a project available. I finally started my post as a research assistant in March 2025. I liked the work and it had been discussed that I could keep working remotely during my gap year. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be true, and my job was terminated in September 2025. At Laurier, opportunities as teaching assistant or research assistant are much more abundant. From a university which advertises research opportunities so openly, I would have expected more readily available projects.
Internships
The clinical experience required for the degree amounts to 225 internship hours. This translates to a seven-week block internship. As a comparison, 1,000 and 1,200 hours are mandatory in Canada and the USA, respectively (American Music Therapy Association; Canadian Association for Music Therapists). I recognise that the music therapy profession has a better standing in these countries, as the professional organisations created high-standard requirements and exams for the accreditation as a music therapist. Music therapists in Germany can gain accreditation from the Deutsche Musiktherapeutische Gesellschaft (n.d.) by completing a recognised music therapy degree. A factor in the low quantity of internship hours at SRH is certainly that internships are proposed to take place one to two blocks and not continuously as in Canada, the UK, or the USA. The latter requires that the university has many partnerships with internship sites, guaranteeing students a placement. At SRH, finding an internship is the responsibility of the student. This can be a real challenge because possible sites are not required to offer an internship. Therefore, I received many rejections because of staffing issues (holidays, shortage, changeover, retirement) or room issues when looking in Germany.
There also seems to be a qualitative difference in internships. In Germany, I experienced a hesitancy to let student therapists practice independently. Although this is not directly connected to SRH, universities should strive to form cooperations with internships sites who have the same understanding of an active internship. At Laurier, students lead their own sessions under supervision for five out of six terms of the programme. It is my opinion that this active role and the routine are necessary to foster competence and confidence.
Conclusion
I came to the realisation that the master’s programme at SRH is not a good fit for me. Yet, I want to emphasize that it might be the right choice for others. I acknowledge that the programme provides important content. The aspects I valued most comprise neurology, quantitative research methods, percussion, and self-experience. However, the psychology portion was repetitive for me. It is furthermore my impression that the music classes except for percussion are not advanced enough. The time set aside for internships is very limited compared to other countries. Lastly, my biggest criticism is the lack of music therapy specific content and practice integration paired with the generally less demanding design of the programme.
Perhaps the programme at SRH is less demanding compared to my study experience at Laurier because of the situation of music therapy in Germany where accredited music therapy programmes are less standardized. But if we aspire to achieve a better standing of music therapy by law and by reputation, we should start by providing the highest standard of education. It is my opinion that a more challenging course with more class content, homework, assignments, and internship hours would lead to greater motivation in students and more pride in their achievements, identification with the university and the profession, and competence and confidence in their future work.
What Now?
Already in my first week of studying in Canada, I was confronted with the disparity between the programme at SRH and the programme at Laurier. Could I go on with my plan of taking a gap year and returning to my studies in Heidelberg? One of my goals of the exchange was to supplement my studies, so that I could feel more confident in my future work. My stay in Canada achieved that, but after such an enriching experience, could I go back to my old programme? I had many conversations with university administrators, my parents, friends, classmates, and myself. I explored the possibility of accrediting my courses from SRH towards a degree at Laurier and graduating after my exchange. Unfortunately, this was not possible because I was lacking internship hours. Then, I contemplated changing universities for my final year. After all, wouldn’t it be great to get even more knowledge and experience than in the gap year? But the university in the UK that I reached out to was very particular: I could only do the whole two-year programme, no intake into the second year was possible. Apart from the logistical difficulties, this was not feasible.
So, I will finish my programme at SRH Heidelberg. My consolation is that I will do voluntary one-day-a-week internship throughout my final year, treat reading suggestions from my exchange as homework, and find myself in a familiar environment. Furthermore, I can positively reframe the less demanding course: It leaves more time to pursue my music.
Continue The Journey
I hope my article succeeded in explaining why I view the graduate programme in music therapy at SRH critically. This is my personal opinion, and I hope I could provide you with enough information to determine if the programme would be a good fit for you. Let me know if you have any questions and, as always, feel free to comment any topic suggestions for the future. The next article is going to cover my self-organized music therapy study exchange in Canada.
References
Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy (n.d.). https://nmtacademy.co/. 2026-07-18.
American Music Therapy Association (2023). National Roster
Internship Guidelines.
Canadian Association of Music Therapists (n.d.). About Music Therapy. Education and Training. https://www.musictherapy.ca/about-camt-music-therapy/about-music-therapy/. 2026-07-18.
Deutsche Musiktherapeutische Gesellschaft (n.d.). Qualitätssicherung.https://www.musiktherapie.de/musiktherapie/qualitaetssicherung/. 2026-07-18.
SRH (n.d.). Music Therapy. Learn more about music therapy concepts. https://www.srh-university.de/en/master/music-therapy/t/. 2026-07-18.
SRH (n.d.). Studying according to the CORE principle. https://www.srh-university.de/en/you-want-to-study/core/. 2026-07-18.
Wigram, T. (2004). Improvisation: Methods and Techniques for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Students. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.