Music therapists work in many health and education settings across the country, on multi-disciplinary teams and as independent agents. They liaise closely with other services involved with the clients and maintain good communication with these services throughout the music therapy treatment. This ensures that we provide a high quality service for clients in the context of their everyday lives. For more details about the different settings that music therapist work in, please visit:

— The Association For Professional Music Therapists

In Children’s Services the key government policies in recent years actively encourage the use of treatments which enhance emotional wellbeing and help children come closer to their potential. ‘Every Child Matters’, the government’s new approach to the well-being of children aged 0-19, highlights the need to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

Extended Schools services are one of the key ways in which ‘Every Child Matters’ is being implemented in the education service and as part of this, schools have been asked to offer children access to targeted and specialist support services by 2010. The Belltree Music Therapy Centre offers a high quality specialist therapeutic service which can provide valuable support for children who are having difficulties engaging with the education system. Being healthy involves emotional and physical well-being and music therapy offers opportunities for children with difficulties in these areas to feel a sense of achievement and develop their emotional awareness. Music therapy treatment can help motivate a child to learn for the first time, or to re-engage with the system that they have begun to see as unhelpful.

An experienced music therapist can support schools by integrating the aims of the therapy with the child’s Individual Education Plan, and advise on appropriate referrals to other services if necessary. Referrals can form part of a complex CAHMS referral, as well as be part of the therapeutic solution.