The transition to practice experience of five music therapy graduates

Entering clinical practice is both exciting and challenging. Little is known about new graduates’ experience of entering practice. This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of five new music therapy graduates in their transition from student to therapist, within the first six months of practice. Through purposeful criterion sampling, five participants were recruited from a recent graduate cohort of the Master of Music Therapy programme, from the University of Melbourne. Data were collected via in-depth Skype interviewing. The focus of inquiry was their experience of transition to practice. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed, before analysing them inductively and recursively. Member checking was conducted to increase the trustworthiness of the study. Individual distilled essences emerged from the interview data. Three global meaning units further described the experience of transition to practice across participants. They were (a) feeling ambivalent, (b) bracing the self and (c) shouldering responsibility. Understanding the experience of transition has practical implications for university educators in curriculum development. It also has significant potential to aid supervising music therapists and employers in supporting new graduates. Furthermore, recognising the transition experience has the capacity to assist students in preparing themselves for entering practice.