Internship

The music therapy internship is a professional endeavor required to complete a music therapy undergraduate degree or the equivalency program. To comply with current American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) standards, your internship must be completed within two years of your last semester on campus.

Begin screening internship programs 12 months in advance of the date that you wish to start.

• Visit the AMTA website  https://www.musictherapy.org/assets/1/7/AMTA_National_Roster_Internship_Sites_5-2025.xlsx_.pdf  for a list of Nationally Rostered Internship Programs.
• WMU University-affiliated internships are listed outside the MT Resource room.

Internship eligibility must first be established.  It is the student's responsibility to initiate an internship eligibility check with the School of Music's Academic Advisor.  To be eligible you must:

• Have a 3.0 GPA in music therapy and related (psychology, special education, etc.) course work taken to date.
• Be able to demonstrate that all course work (except MUS 4810 Music Therapy Internship) will be completed prior to the beginning of your internship. This includes convocation requirements as well.
• Successfully passed all MT Competency Assessment requirements.

No letter of recommendation will be written by any of the music therapy faculty until authorization of the candidate's eligibility is received from the School of Music Academic Advisor.

Nine to 12 months before the date you want to begin your internship you should have narrowed your list of potential internship sites to four to six. Only four applications can be active at any time. Send a letter of introduction including:

• Your date of eligibility and desired starting dates.
• A brief description of your clinical experiences.
• The reason(s) you have selected this site for an application.
• A request for application (check their website before requesting).

Before accepting an internship, it is imperative that you understand the following regulation: Once you accept an internship you are, in effect, signing a professional contract; you may not cancel later if a more attractive internship offer comes along. Failure to comply with this regulation may result in your losing both internship offers. Therefore, choose your internship site with care. If you need to talk over internship concerns, please see the Director of Music Therapy before you decide.

Your internship will be monitored by the WMU director of music therapy. Please notify the director once you have accepted an internship and determined a starting date.

As you compare the different internship programs, consider the following:

• With what type of population are you most interested in working? Does this vacility have that population?
• Are you compatible with the philosophical orientation of the facility?
• Do you need room and/or board or a stipend? A few internship sites still offer such student benefits.