Slovenia

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Music therapy in Slovenia is influenced by various European approaches, especially from Germany, Austria and the UK. The training course is eclectically informed by various national and international lecturers and is based on a humanistic view. The connection and mutual exchange with the other artistic therapies as well as the cultural influence of Slovenian music culture plays an important role.

Music Therapy is amongst the Arts Therapies listed in the Slovenian Classification of Professions in the category “other healthcare professions”, but it is in no way regulated and protected by law.

Music therapy training in Slovenia takes place at Institute Knoll for Music Therapy and Supervision (IK). It is a three-year, part-time training programme, not yet accredited. The institute and the course were founded in 2014 by Špela Loti Knoll and Claudia Bajs. It is currently headed by Špela Loti Knoll. The establishment of music therapy training in Slovenia was significantly supported by the Andreas Tobias Kind Foundation from Hamburg, Germany. 

In 2022, the eighth generation enrolled, in February 2021, the eleventh Music Therapist IK successfully finished the course. This means that Slovenia now has nearly 20 trained music therapists, who studied in abroad or in their home country. The IK Music Therapy training course aims to fulfill the necessary criteria and become a state recognized training course in the upcoming years. Music therapy is currently being introduced as a new elective subject for students of music education at the Music Academy, University of Ljubljana.

There is cooperation between the private training institution (IK) and the University of Ljubljana (Music Academy, Faculty of Education and Faculty of Medicine) regarding research projects. Currently there is a research project taking place at the University of Ljubljana. It is the PhD project “Functional and psychotherapeutic approaches in music therapy with individuals with severe disabilities” conducted by Claudia Bajs at the Music Academy Ljubljana, supervised by Katarina Habe.

The first national association “Slovenian Music Therapy Association” (ZGTS) was founded in 2020. They are focusing on professional issues, networking and recognition processes. Regular In-person and Zoom-meetings are organized within the board and for all members, a series of lectures on topics that are relevant for the development of the profession of MT in Slovenia started in 2022. The association currently represents 10 qualified music therapists and 3 music therapy students.