How can you train in music therapy in Turkey? The master's programme, the GETAT certificate, who may practise, and what to know before you start any training.
A violinist who has graduated from a conservatoire, a nurse working in a hospital, a special education teacher working with autistic children, or a physiotherapist who has played the ney (reed flute) for years... One day, the same question may occur to all of them: "Could I use music more systematically for people's wellbeing?" Those who pursue this question soon find themselves among countless training adverts. Weekend workshops, online certificates, university programmes, "internationally recognised" diplomas. In this article we describe the academic programmes for music therapy training in Turkey, the legal framework and what certificates actually mean, in the light of known sources, without evaluating institutions or steering anyone in a particular direction. The aim is to clarify the questions worth asking before making a decision.
What Is Music Therapy Training, and Who Is It For?
It is worth starting with a definition. In the current literature, music therapy is defined as an approach in which musical interaction takes place between a trained practitioner and a client within a therapeutic framework. This definition matters, because simply playing recorded music to a patient, or playing background music in a waiting room, does not count as music therapy in this sense. Any training in this field therefore has to cover not only musical knowledge but also areas such as the therapeutic relationship, observation, assessment and ethics.
People interested in this field usually come from three groups:
- Musicians and music educators: Their instrumental skills are strong, but their knowledge of psychology, development and clinical settings may be limited.
- Healthcare workers: Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists. They have clinical experience, while their musical skills vary from person to person.
- Special education and preschool teachers: They have strong experience of working with children and already use music in their daily work.
What each group lacks is different. A good starting point, therefore, is to answer honestly the question: "What am I bringing to this field, and what do I need to learn?"
Let us say a nurse working on the children's ward of a state hospital notices that children who have been in hospital for a long time relax a little when they sing in the evenings. Or a volunteer who plays the bağlama (a Turkish long-necked lute) at a care home sees that some older residents only join the conversation once folk songs begin. These observations are valuable and are often the starting point of interest in this field. However, turning an observation into systematic practice, understanding who is positively affected, under what conditions and why, recognising possible negative effects, and being able to share all this within a team, requires separate knowledge and skills.
How Did Music Therapy Training Begin Around the World?
Music therapy took shape as a profession in the 20th century. After the First and Second World Wars, community musicians in the United States began playing in veterans' hospitals. Doctors and nurses who observed this work asked for musicians to be employed in hospitals, and it soon became clear that these musicians needed specific training.
This need gave rise to academic programmes. Sources report that one of the first undergraduate programmes in music therapy opened at Michigan State College in 1944; although the claim of being "the first in the world" varies by source, this date is regarded as an important turning point in the academic development of the profession. In the United States, the National Association for Music Therapy was founded in 1950, and in 1998 it merged with another association founded in 1971 to become the American Music Therapy Association.
This brief history shows one thing clearly: music therapy began with well-meaning musicians coming into hospitals, but in order to become a profession it needed training standards, professional organisation and clinical oversight. The questions asked today when training in this field is discussed are largely the same: who will work, with what training, within what framework, and under whose supervision? If you would like to look at the profession in more detail, our article on music therapy also describes the current approach.
Music Therapy Training in Turkey: Academic Programmes
In Turkey, training in this field is relatively new at the academic level. Anadolu University's Graduate School of Health Sciences has a Department of Music Therapy and a non-thesis master's programme; the university presents this programme as Turkey's first master's degree in music therapy.
According to the programme's publicly available profile:
- Applicants are required to hold a bachelor's degree in health, music, education or special education.
- Candidates are expected to have instrumental skills.
- The programme includes at least 700 hours of practical work.
Since these requirements may change over time, current admission criteria should be followed through the official announcements published each year. Our aim here is not to recommend one programme or compare it with others; it is simply to give an example of how this field is structured at the academic level in Turkey.
The high number of practical hours is meaningful. Music therapy is not a skill that can be learned from a book. Noticing how a child relates to rhythm, watching an older patient's response to an old song, hearing how the voices of a group blend together: these can only be learned through experience and supervision.
The GETAT Regulation and Music Therapy Certificates: Who Holds the Authority?
When discussing music therapy in Turkey, you need to know about the Regulation on Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices (known by its Turkish acronym, GETAT). This regulation came into force on publication in the Official Gazette no. 29158 on 27 October 2014. Music therapy is one of the fifteen GETAT methods defined in the regulation.
Under GETAT, the authority to practise rests mainly with certified physicians. According to a statement by the Minister of Health in 2019, in a few methods such as music therapy, certified allied health personnel may also work under a physician's supervision. This information is based on a ministerial statement; for the current text of the regulation's annexes and any possible changes, official legislative sources should be followed.
Different sources circulate different figures for the length and content of certificate programmes. Because these figures contradict one another, we do not give a number here. If you are thinking of applying for a certificate programme, it is important to find out directly, and in writing, which legislation the programme is based on and what authority it gives you once completed.
What matters is not the name of a training but the authority it confers: not every document that says "music therapy certificate" grants the right to practise independently in healthcare.
Another important point concerns professional titles. In Turkey, the title of psychologist is not currently regulated by a comprehensive professional law; the definition of "clinical psychologist" was added to Law No. 1219 by an amendment in 2011. For art-, drama- or dance-based work, there does not appear to be a separate legally defined professional title. As legislation in these areas may change, it is important to follow current regulations.
What Do You Learn in Music Therapy Training?
Although programme details vary from institution to institution, by the nature of the field a comprehensive programme would usually be expected to include the following:
- Musical skills: Improvisation, singing, using different instruments at a basic level, and adapting music to the client's needs.
- Knowledge of psychology and development: Development from childhood to old age, basic psychopathology, emotions and relationships.
- Knowledge of clinical settings: How different settings such as hospitals, rehabilitation centres and schools work; working within a team.
- Assessment and record-keeping: Identifying the client's needs, setting goals and recording observations regularly.
- Ethics: Confidentiality, consent, boundaries, and not going beyond one's own area of competence.
- Research literacy: Being able to read and evaluate scientific studies.
- Supervised practice: Working with real clients under the supervision of an experienced professional.
Supervision is perhaps the least known but most important part of this list. The practitioner regularly discusses with an experienced professional the difficulties they face with clients, their own emotional reactions and the decisions they make. This both protects the client's safety and helps the practitioner recognise their own limits. Because music can reach people's memories and emotions very quickly, it is possible for a song to awaken an unexpected memory of grief or trauma; knowing what to do in such moments is learned through training and supervision.
Research literacy is especially important, because the field of music therapy has promising but cautious findings. For example, according to a Cochrane review, music therapy added to usual care may reduce symptoms of depression in the short term; however, the evidence has been rated as being of low to moderate certainty. In autism, a probable improvement in overall symptoms at the end of treatment has been reported, while the effect on social interaction and communication has remained uncertain. A practitioner who can read these findings correctly can offer families and clients realistic expectations.
Questions to Ask Before Starting Music Therapy Training
In training adverts you may often come across expressions such as "healing", "frequency music" or "makam prescriptions" (makams being the modal systems of Turkish classical music). Some programmes promise to teach that certain makams treat certain illnesses. Yet the pairings of makams and illnesses from the Ottoman period, or attributed to it, contradict one another from source to source and have not been scientifically tested. There is also no scientific support for "frequency" claims such as 432 Hz. These subjects are interesting as cultural history, but they cannot form the basis of a healthcare training. We look separately at the historical and legal aspects of the subject in our article on GETAT music therapy.
Before applying for a programme, you can ask yourself and the programme the following questions:
- Which legal regulation is this training based on?
- What authority does it give me once completed; under what conditions and under whose supervision can I work?
- Does the programme include supervised practice, and how much?
- Is the content based on scientific research or on unproven claims?
- How does my current profession and education fit with this programme?
At times when the cost of living is rising, training fees can also be a serious burden. Programmes that promise to give you "a profession" in a short time may therefore seem attractive. When deciding, setting the length of the training, its cost and what it will actually give you side by side reduces the risk of later disappointment. Clarifying the difference between using music more consciously in your current profession and practising music therapy as a separate field is also part of this decision.
These questions are suggested not for evaluating any institution, but so that you can base your own decision on information.
Realistic Expectations: Music, Psychological Support and Ethical Boundaries
Someone who trains in this field encounters an important boundary when they begin working in mental health: music is a supportive element within an appropriate framework, but it does not replace medication, psychotherapy or medical treatment. In conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis or trauma, work involving music is carried out in collaboration with other professionals and as part of a treatment plan.
For this reason, it is very important for those working in the field to know when a client needs to be referred to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. If you are curious about the different professions in mental health and their areas of competence, our article on the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist offers a framework.
Think about your own health as well. Working with music in demanding settings such as hospitals, care homes or disaster areas can be emotionally exhausting. Let us say a music teacher who volunteered to run music workshops for children after the 6 February 2023 earthquakes notices, months later, that her own sleep has been disrupted and that she keeps thinking about those days. This is a reminder that those who support others may also need support. If you have been experiencing low mood, sleep problems or intense anxiety for more than two weeks, you might consider support such as individual therapy. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call 112 (emergency services) without delay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to be a musician to train in music therapy?
Academic programmes usually expect a certain level of instrumental skill; for example, Anadolu University's master's programme requires candidates to have instrumental skills. However, being a professional performing musician is not essential. What really matters is being able to use music flexibly according to the client's needs.
Can you work independently with a music therapy certificate?
Under GETAT, the authority to practise rests mainly with certified physicians; according to ministry statements, certified allied health personnel may work in music therapy under a physician's supervision. Not every certificate confers the same authority. It is therefore necessary to find out, in writing, from official legislation and from the programme itself what authority a programme provides.
Are online trainings valid?
There is no single answer to this question; validity depends on the legislation the programme is based on and the authority it confers. Because a large part of music therapy requires practice and supervision, a training consisting only of theoretical content may not be sufficient for clinical work.
Does music therapy really work?
Research shows promising results in some areas; for example, in depression, a short-term reduction in symptoms has been reported when music therapy is added to usual treatment. However, most studies are small and the evidence is of low to moderate certainty. Music therapy should be seen as a supportive approach.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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