certification programs for adults

Once students show proficiency at the harp and wish to pursue a career in healthcare, they are invited to begin working on their certification as a therapeutic harpist.

The Certified Harp Therapist (CHT) and the Certified Master of Harp Therapy (CMHT) programs are designed to train adult Intermediate-level harpists to work as healthcare professionals in medical settings. The CHT level is a 300 hour course consisting of 134 hybrid (face-to-face and online) classroom hours, a 120 hour closely mentored internship, 10 one-on-one contact hours with a mastery level certified harp therapist, and our 36 hour online course, “Conversations on Ethics for Harp Therapists.” Additional requirements include repertoire and improvisation development, completion of a practicum project, as well as assigned readings and writings.

To achieve the level of Certified Master Harp Therapist (CMHT) one must have met all of the requirements for the CHT, and have taken an additional 175 hours of studies consisting of a 120 hour mastery level supervised internship,12 one-on-one contact hours, our 12 week, 24 hour online advanced level course,“Conversations on Research for Harp Therapists,” and a 20 hour retreat/workshop on Harp Therapy as a MindBody Modality. Additional requirements include repertoire and improvisation development, assigned readings and writings, as well as a final practicum project presented both in writing and orally. Mastery level graduates are eligible to receive 12 college music credits through Bucks County Community College.

If 80% of the internship is completed at one of our host hospitals, graduates will receive the special designation of Hospital-Certified; if 50% of the internship is completed at one of our host hospitals, graduates will receive the special designation of Hospital-Intensive.

To accomodate our out of state and out of country students, we have designed an Internship Intensive which consists of playing a minimum of 20 hours a week for two weeks at one of our host facilities. For all of the certifications above, both Bedside Harp and our host hospital’s names will appear on the certificate. If a student wishes to do their internship at a non-host facility, that student will be awarded a Certified Harp Therapist and/or Certified Master Harp Therapist designations, conferred by Bedside Harp only.

Certification candidates will be required to complete certain reading and writing assignments and will, as well, keep records and a journal during their internships. To be awarded certifications, candidates must complete all modules, complete their internships and practicum project(s), submit all reports, recordkeeping and assignments and pass the final review exam. Candidates are encouraged to begin their internships (Module V) immediately after taking classroom Module I, playing in common areas for at least 20 hours of their internships between Modules I and III. After taking classroom Module III, students may be granted permission to perform rounds in patient areas. At least 90 hours, or 70% of a student’s first level of certification shall be spent playing in patient areas.

CEU credits for all professions are available through Bucks County Community College. Further, when the student achieves the mastery level of certification with Bedside Harp, that student may apply to the College to receive 12 college music credits.

Our Certification Programs are truly personal journeys. Some students complete their work quickly; others take longer. We offer an eight week Summer Intensive for advanced harpists and harpers. This intensive is highly demanding and was designed for students who are able to devote themselves to working fulltime on their certifications and music development. All other certification classes are offered in regular semesters in the Spring. We encourage all certification students to satisfy all of their requirements within two years of their starting the program.

Please read our certification renewal policy.

View FAQs regarding our certification program.

View more information regarding all the variations on internships available.

Please read our Certification Intern and Graduate Resources.

Module I: To Soothe The Savage Breast

Spring '12 Class:
Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, April 22, 2012
Bucks County Community College, Off-Campus in Bensalem, PA

This 4-day retreat module focuses on music and spirituality—both of which are, after all, at the heart of our work. Much attention is given to healing music fundamentals, modal playing, noodling and playing by ear. We’ll also explore the fascinating links between spirituality and science which necessarily come into play in our work. Work on our selves, our fears and on healing our wounds are part of this and every module.

Module I schedule

Module II: Glimpses Within

Spring '12 Class:
Thursday, May 17 through Sunday, May 20, 2012
Bucks County Community College, Off-Campus in Bensalem, PA

This four day retreat module’s focus is on our coming to understand what brings us to do this work. We explore a number of self reflection tools including Angeles Arrien’s Signs of Life, Elaine Aron’s Highly Sensitive Person, dream therapy, and a most unique tool created by Brian Stevenson, one of our graduates, who has ingeniously tied together Meyers-Briggs personality types to getting through this program and doing this work. Brian’s tool pretty amazingly offers us a heads up on those areas of this journey each of us is likely to be most challenged by. Through all of the modules, we work on Dee Curci’s LifeBook, which helps us put our own affairs, issues, hopes and dreams in order as we set out to serve others.

Like all the modules, this module has a good number of creative and musical freeing interactive exercises and activities built into it, along with segments on repertoire and music development.

Module II schedule

Module III: Working with the Depressed, the Seriously Ill and the Dying

Spring '12 Class:
Wednesday, June 20 through Sunday, June 24, 2012
Bucks County Community College, Off-Campus in Bensalem, PA

Module III is a 5 day retreat, allowing for even more interaction and practice. Forgiveness is a major theme of this module—self work that is essential to our continuing development of compassion both for ourselves and for others. We look at our own attitudes on death and dying. With all of our self work, we never go anywhere uncomfortable, but we do explore new perspectivea. This being the last classroom module required before we play in patient rooms, a good amount of time is devoted to healthcare protocols, modal playing, repertoire development, and the exploration of various styles of playing and delivering harp therapy.

Module IV: Creating Work for Yourself/Creating Yourself for Work

Spring '12 Class
Thursday, September 13 through Sunday, September 16, 2012
BCCC, Bensalem, PA

The spotlight in Module IV, another 4 day retreat, is on the two challenges that lie immediately ahead: getting to certification and creating job opportunities for ourselves.