Music Therapy in South Africa

Music Therapy is an established health care profession registered with the HPCSA (Health Professionals Council of South Africa). A music therapist utilizes clinically informed music-based interventions to form a therapeutic relationship with an individual client or group that serves to optimize their quality of life. (In other words the client and therapist might create music together or listen to and discuss music to get to know one another and create the most helpful course of therapy.) Music Therapy is used in medical, educational, rehabilitative and everyday environments to address physical, emotional, cognitive, communicative, spiritual and social needs of individuals, groups and communities.

South Africa has a unique and diverse musical background, and music forms an integral part of customs, rituals, healing and everyday life. Music Therapy is a relatively new profession in South Africa, fueled by passionate music therapists who tap into this vibrant musical culture, offering a distinctive practice relevant to this context.

M.Mus in Music Therapy – Training in Music Therapy

The Department of Music launched its M.Mus (Music Therapy) programme in February 1999. This is the first music therapy training course in South Africa to be approved by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (the former SA Medical and Dental Council).

Applicants are selected every two years for this intensive, two-year training, which includes 1,000 hours of supervised clinical internship at various placement sites in and around Pretoria. The training course runs every two years.

The Music Therapy Training Programme was co-founded by Prof. Mercedes Pavlicevic and Mrs Kobie Swart (nee Temmingh). Prof Pavlicevic is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre in London. Apart from her continued involvement in the Music Therapy Training Programme, she is also Co-Director of Research at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre. Mrs Kobie Swart is a graduate of Potchefstroom University and the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and continues her involvement as lecturer in the Music Therapy Training programme. Mrs Carol Lotter, a graduate of UNISA and the University of Pretoria co-ordinates the Music Therapy training programme. Other tutors on the programme include, Adri van Heerden, Andeline dos Santos, Jannien van Aardt, Karen de Kock and Hanni Beyers.

For further information or enquiries, please visit

Training in Music Therapy – University of Pretoria or contact:

Mrs Carol Lotter

Email: musictherapy2@up.ac.za
Tel: 012 420 5372/4
Fax: 012 420 4517

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