Educating music therapy students about working with clients who have been sexually abused

Music therapy teaching offers many challenges and rewards. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to watch people grow and mature as they learn more about different client groups and music’s capacity to promote and support positive change, and also embark on their own journey towards becoming a competent practitioner through their clinical training experiences, and personal reflections. At the same time there are many responsibilities in the role of designing music therapy programs, and indeed those in the other art therapies, that could benefit from further consideration. It is a challenging responsibility to ensure that students are prepared for the work that awaits them in the field, and in particular are alerted and appropriately prepared for the requirements of working therapeutically with vulnerable populations. Lectures can provide challenges to students about their own histories, and as such promote the requirement for therapists to have an awareness of the impact of their past experiences before they can work effectively in the field. Therefore, students must understand the need to either be undergoing or have completed their own psychotherapy before being ready and available to support others.