WAU’s Music Therapy Program Achieves Milestone: First Graduate Sets Path For Future Success

Takoma Park, Maryland — Washington Adventist University’s Music Therapy Program reached a significant milestone this summer when Music Therapy Equivalency Program (MTEP) member Sarah Monroe became the first student to graduate from the program since its launch in 2019.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in music at Catholic University in 2011, Monroe began to teach piano lessons and found that she enjoyed sharing her musical skills with her students. Little by little, she began searching for ways to pursue her passion for music.

“I started talking to my family about it,” she said, “and it was my dad who said, ‘What about music therapy?’ So I looked up schools in the area and found that WAU is the only one that offers music therapy in Maryland.” So, in the fall of 2020, Monroe entered the MTEP program.

Monroe completed her exam administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) on Wednesday, August 23. She has received her music therapy certification and will continue working as a certified music therapist at Children’s National Hospital.

Beyond administrative duties, Monroe’s day-to-day operations in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s National vary depending on patient needs.

“It depends what they need—sometimes it’s normalization, sometimes it’s developmental help, sometimes it’s pain management or self-expression,” she said. “It could be anything, so you just have your whole toolbox with you to be able to meet any of those needs they might have when they walk into the room.”

When asked about her favorite part about the Music Therapy Program at WAU, Monroe answered without hesitation.

“Connections,” she said. “It was the connections with all the staff, professors and students. Then, later on, with practicum, it was meeting other music therapists. Music therapists are so sweet, so creative—they really want to help people. People come from all different backgrounds, so it’s really cool to meet them and work together.”

Beyond WAU’s Music Therapy Program, a deep-rooted history connects with the core principles of music therapy itself. Tracing its origins to World War II, music therapy, simply put, involves professional musicians using music to improve their client’s health and wellness physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

According to Music Therapy Program Director Dr. Alicia Barksdale, music therapy became recognized as an established profession in the 1950s. Since then, it has experienced significant growth alongside a host of research, gradually making its way into mainstream healthcare today.

“Now that we have brain imaging, we can see what is going on in the brain when they’re playing an instrument, when they’re singing and when they’re hearing music,” she said. “We can really see how much of the brain is being used and what parts of the brain are being used.”

When Music Department Chair Dr. Daniel Lau initially envisioned creating a music therapy program, it was this abundance of research, along with its seamless alignment with WAU’s mission, that inspired him. “Music therapy seemed to fit not only with the mission of our educational institution but also our church institution, with wholistic approaches to health and well-being,” he said. “What was exciting for us is that music therapy is backed by a host of peer-reviewed studies that show the impact of music for a variety of populations and ailments.”

However, the launch of the program in 2019 did not come without challenges. Music department faculty faced their first hurdle in early 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a tumultuous time to start a new program, and music therapy is particularly tricky to do online,” said Dr. Barksdale. “So, it was pretty much modeling how a telehealth session would go, ‘Here’s how you would set it up, here’s how it looks, and here are the regulations and ethics.’ As we went through the pandemic, we were figuring all those things out.”

More than three years after the program’s launch, WAU’s Music Therapy Program is home to 25 students, combining those in the Music Therapy Equivalency Program (MTEP) and those in the full four-year Music Therapy degree. 

For Dr. Lau, the program’s influence on the wider community is undeniable. Unlike previous years, where he would usually already be acquainted with incoming music students thanks to recruiting efforts in Adventist academies and surrounding public schools, the department is attracting students like Monroe, who actively seek out WAU’s music department.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been aware of virtually every music major here prior to them applying,” Lau said. “That’s changed since we’ve had music therapy—several of our incoming students this year I never knew until I saw their applications. Now, we’re getting inquiries from students we’ve never heard of, and that’s very exciting for us.”

Dr. Lau and Dr. Barksdale share a similar long-term vision for the Music Therapy Program heading forward—a cohort of music therapy leaders armed with competence and moral integrity, influencing various dimensions of health and wellness. The roadmap ahead includes an expanded role for music therapy at Adventist Healthcare and pioneering research initiatives. This broadened engagement is anticipated to reach national and international scales.

Washington Adventist University boasts the only Music Therapy Program approved by the American Music Therapy Association in Maryland and in the North American Seventh-day Adventist educational system.