Abstract
Many music therapists experience a musculoskeletal injury and/or vocal injury over the course of
their careers. There is a lot of research conducted in this area with orchestral musicians and
professional singers but minimal research done with music therapists or music therapy students.
The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the occurrence of musculoskeletal
and/or vocal injuries that music therapists sustain in the work place and what they did to
ameliorate their injuries. Five female music therapists agreed to participate via video chat,
providing a narrative of their physical and/or vocal injuries. All five participants experienced
either a vocal injury, a musculoskeletal injury, or both. Two therapists required to take time off
due to their injuries. The researcher concluded that music therapists are experiencing physical
and vocal issues and seeking medical treatment. In addition, treatment was helpful in healing
their injuries. More research is needed in order to examine the full scope of injuries and what can
be done to prevent them.
