Music Therapy master degree programme

Direct contact with scientists and researchers

Our university has its own music therapy research centre – the Josef Ressel Centre for establishing principles of personalised music therapy.

It focuses on research into music therapy processes and relationships in selected areas of neurological rehabilitation. The goal is to record and analyse resonance experienced between therapists and their patients, which is often difficult to investigate scientifically.

Research assistants working at the Josef Ressel Centre will supervise work related to your master thesis from the first semester, and give you deeper insights into important scientific approaches and methods using practice-based examples.

Small groups provide a fertile environment for devising and enhancing distinctive research concepts. You will also have access to equipment for measuring psychophysiological parameters such as heart rate variability and skin conductance responses, as well as video analysis technology. This opens up opportunities for pursuing exciting master thesis research questions, which you can systematically investigate with professional support.

Self-reflection and therapeutic communication

The Reflection, Clinical Work and Therapeutic Communication modules prepare you for specific challenges in routine clinical work. Central to this are approaches to proximity and distance, and processing stressful clinical experiences.

You will reflect on and analyse your clinical work in small groups under the supervision of an experienced course tutor with reference to your selected therapy situations, sometimes with the help of video analysis. This will help you to identify your own perceptual and behavioural patterns in relation to music therapy practice, and, if necessary, modify them.

You will hone your communicative abilities in the therapeutic setting and practise leading intervision and supervision sessions with your fellow students.

A respectful attitude to the environment and yourself is crucial. Musical interactions are another focus. You will learn how to adapt your repertoire of musical interaction techniques to your clients and appropriately organise the therapeutic setting.

Interdisciplinary work in health sciences

This programme prepares you for interdisciplinary work in health sciences. Music therapy at IMC Krems benefits greatly from being firmly embedded in the multidisciplinary environment of the Department of Health Sciences.

We are surrounded by colleagues specialising in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, obstetrics, and general nursing. We also cooperate with our neighbours at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences to organise joint courses and enable students to complete multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary theses. Our aim is to promote knowledge of different fields in preparation for working in interdisciplinary clinical environments.