Department of Music Therapy Spotlights

The CSU Department of Music Therapy is excited to share that music therapy is now a licensed health profession in the State of Ohio!

Effective July 1, 2024, Ohio music therapists must be a Licensed Professional Music Therapist (LPMT) to practice music therapy or call themselves a music therapist. To become licensed in Ohio, music therapists must complete an academic program approved by the American Music Therapy Association and pass the national music therapy board examination through the Certification Board for Music Therapists.

Music therapy licensure is an important step to increasing access to services. Many existing state regulations require that education and healthcare providers hold a state license. As a result, current and potential clients often have difficulty accessing music therapy services. Service provision procedures require official state recognition—often in the form of a state license—for individuals to access music therapy services (The Certification Board of Music Therapists [CBMT], 2023).

Cleveland State University’s music therapy undergraduate and equivalency programs are an excellent pathway for individuals to enter the licensed music therapy profession. We would love to visit with you to discuss your future music therapy career!

For further information about music therapy licensure in Ohio, please click on this link:

https://cswmft.ohio.gov/get-licensed/music-therapists

Music therapists use music to address individualized physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual goals within a therapeutic relationship. They work in schools, healthcare facilities, care facilities, and community settings with individuals across the lifespan. 

The newly established Department of Music Therapy is eager to graduate highly qualified, freshly-minted board-certified music therapists to meet the vast music therapy market demand.