Finland

Music therapy has been practised in Finland since the 1960s, for example, in psychiatric hospitals. The first Finnish music therapist started working in 1964.
The first master’s theses on music therapy were written in the 1970s. The Finnish Society for Music Therapy (Suomen musiikkiterapiayhdistys ry) was founded and registered in 1973 to promote the field and increase public awareness. By the mid-1970s, music therapy had spread to most psychiatric hospitals. From the beginning, it was also used in rehabilitation centres and special education schools.
In the 1980s, both the Sibelius Academy and the University of Jyväskylä began offering music therapy studies, and the first master’s degrees were awarded in Jyväskylä. The first Finnish doctoral dissertation in music therapy was completed in 1986.
In the early 1990s, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) began to include music therapy as part of medical rehabilitation for people with severe disabilities (later known as demanding medical rehabilitation). During the decade, several universities of applied sciences – such as those in North Karelia and Tampere – started bachelor-level training for music therapists. The physioacoustic chair was invented around this time, and together with clinical improvisation, music imagery methods, and band playing, it remains one of the most widely used tools in Finnish music therapy. In 1997, a professorship in music therapy was established at the University of Jyväskylä, with Dr. Jaakko Erkkilä appointed as the first professor.
Since the 2000s, most music therapy research in Finland has been conducted at the University of Jyväskylä. The number of doctoral dissertations and master’s degrees has grown significantly, and master’s training has become increasingly international. The Eino Roiha Foundation, established in 2002, supports the development of arts therapy research. Today, bachelor-level music therapy training is offered only at the Eino Roiha Institute in Jyväskylä.

In Finland, music therapists work in diverse settings, most often as private entrepreneurs or service providers. In recent years, permanent therapist positions have also been established in hospitals, especially in child and adolescent care. Some professionals work solely as music therapists, while others offer music therapy alongside their main occupation.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) is the principal public funder of music therapy. To provide Kela-funded services, therapists must have approved qualifications and a service provider agreement, and meet strict standards regarding clinic facilities, patient safety, documentation, and evaluation practices.
Kela reimburses music therapy in two main categories:
• Demanding medical rehabilitation – for children, adolescents, and adults whose illness or disability significantly limits their functional capacity. Music therapy is often used in the rehabilitation of developmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurological disorders, as well as in severe psychiatric conditions.
• Rehabilitation psychotherapy (ages 16–25) – for young people with a psychiatrist’s B-statement confirming that a mental health condition affects their ability to study or work. The statement requires at least three months of psychiatric treatment before applying for Kela reimbursement.
Although music therapy is funded by Kela, hospitals, and other institutions, the title music therapist is not an officially regulated healthcare profession in Finland.

PhD and master’s programmes: University of Jyväskylä
Clinical studies: Open University + Eino Roiha Institute

Music Therapy Research in Finland

Finnish music therapy research strongly informs clinical practice and international collaboration.
In Finland, music therapy research is conducted primarily at the Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, which also hosts a professorship in music therapy. The field is active and internationally recognised for its high scientific standards.
So far, more than 20 doctoral dissertations and numerous master’s theses have been completed in music therapy in Finland. Several research projects have also been supported by the Academy of Finland.

Doctoral dissertations in music therapy completed in Finland: musiikkiterapia.fi/musiikkiterapia/tieteellinen-perusta/vaitokset
Master’s theses in music therapy, University of Jyväskylä: jyx.jyu.fi/jyx
Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain, funded by the Academy of Finland: jyu.fi/en/research/centres-of-excellence

ArtsEqual project (University of the Arts Helsinki) – Music and other arts therapies are included in the project’s 2020 policy recommendations on the role of arts and culture in healthcare artsequal.fi/fi/etusivu

One of the most internationally recognized Finnish studies is “Individual music therapy for depression: randomised controlled trial” (Erkkilä, Punkanen, Fachner et al., 2011). This research has been featured on the Clearvue Health website: clearvuehealth.com/b/music-therapy-depression included in the Cochrane Review “Music therapy for depression” (Aalbers, Fusar-Poli, Freeman et al., 2017), and received the NHS Choices Award from the UK National Health Service as one of the best and most influential health research news stories of 2011.

Other significant Finnish research projects in music therapy include:
Erkkilä, J., Brabant, O., Hartmann, M., Mavrolampados, A., Ala-Ruona, E., Snape, N., Gold, C. (2021).
Music therapy for depression enhanced with listening homework and slow paced breathing: A randomised controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 300. Saatavissa: frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.613821

Erkkilä, J., Punkanen, M., Fachner, J., Ala-Ruona, E., Pöntiö, I., Tervaniemi, M., Gold, C. (2011). Individual music therapy for depression: Randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(2), 132-139. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.110.085431

Koivisto, T. & Saukko, P. (2023). Etämusiikkiterapia. Kartoittava kirjallisuuskatsaus — Remote Music Therapy: A Scoping Literature Review. Sosiaali- ja terveysturvan raportteja 27. Kela, Helsinki. helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/354868

Saukko, P. & Hakomäki, H. (2019). Musiikkiterapian vaikutus kehitysvammaisten lasten, nuorten ja aikuisten toimintakykyyn. Kirjallisuuskatsaus — The Effects of Music Therapy on the Functioning of Children, Adolescents and Adults with Developmental Disabilities: A Literature Review. Sosiaali- ja terveysturvan raportteja 18. Kela, Helsinki. helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/306211

Siponkoski ST, Martinez-Molina N, Kuusela L, Laitinen S, Holma M, Ahlfors M, Jordan-Kilkki P, Ala-Kauhaluoma K, Melkas S, Pekkola J, Rodriguez-Fornells A, Laine M, Ylinen A, Rantanen P, Koskinen S, Lipsanen J, Särkämö T. Music therapy enhances executive functions and prefrontal structural neuroplasticity after traumatic brain injury: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Neurotrauma 2020; 37: 618-634. DOI: 10.1089/neu.2019.6413

Särkämö, T. (2011). Music in the recovering brain (Doctoral Thesis).
Särkämö, T., Pihko, E., Laitinen, S., Forsblom, A., Soinila, S., Mikkonen, M., Tervaniemi, M. (2010). Music and speech listening enhance the recovery of early sensory processing after stroke. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(12), 2716-2727.

Särkämö, T., Tervaniemi, M., Laitinen, S., Forsblom, A., Soinila, S., Mikkonen, M., Hietanen, M. (2008). Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke. Brain. A Journal of Neurology, 131(3), 866-876. Retrieved from brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/131/3/866