Music Therapist - Psychotherapy Specialty

To obtain the Psychotherapy specialty, you must do all the following:

Hold a master’s or doctorate degree in music therapy from a program approved by the American Music Therapy Association, or a master’s or doctorate degree in a related field recognized and accepted by the American Music Therapy Association and the Certification Board for Music Therapists.

Complete the required supervision under a qualified supervisor.

Pass the exam required for certification by the Certification Board for Music Therapists or hold registry from the National Music Therapy Registry.

Pass the Wisconsin statutes and rules exam.

You must complete 3,000 hours of music therapy practiced as psychotherapy, supervised by a person licensed to practice psychotherapy (referred to as the primary supervisor). Your primary supervisor must have met with you an average of one hour per week during the supervision period.

If your primary supervisor was not a registered Music Therapist, you must receive supervision from a registered Music Therapist as a secondary supervisor for at least 1,500 hours. The supervision by primary and secondary supervisors may occur simultaneously.

Each supervisor must submit form 2586 Affidavit of Supervisor (see the Forms section below) to verify the practice you completed under their supervision.

Below are some general instructions for applying for a credential on LicensE. 

1. Create or log into your LicensE account. Please visit LicensE account Information page for detailed guidance on selecting your account type.

2. Select "Apply for a License."

3. Select your Category.

4. Select your License Type.

5. Select your Application Method, then "Next."

6. Review your Personal Information.

7. Enter the requested Information on each page of the application. Information may include Examination, Education, or License History, depending on your profession.

8. If applicable, request a Veterans Fee Waiver or Initial Credential Fee Reduction.

9. Submit the requested Documents you may already have. You do not need to have all documents ready to submit.

   Note: Forms are now hosted on AccessGov. Visit AccessGov Forms Directory to choose your form.

10. Respond to the Attestation questions.

11. Provide Payment Information. Fees may be found Credential Fees.

12. Submit your application.  

Profession specific application requirements can be found in the "Application Information" section.

To apply for the Psychotherapy specialty, log into your LicensE account and click on "My Licenses".

Select "Add Specialty" from the Action menu on the right side of the screen and complete the application. If you do not see this menu you may need to turn your phone into landscape or use a desktop computer. The $75 Wisconsin statutes and rules exam fee is required.

• Form 2585 Certificate of Professional Education (submitted directly by the school).

• Form 2586 Affidavit of Supervisor (submitted directly by the supervisor).

• Verification of passing the exam required for certification by the Certification Board for Music Therapists.

• A passing Wisconsin statutes and rules exam score.

• Verification of licensure (submitted directly by the other state to DSPS).

• Form 2829 Malpractice Suits or Claims Form.

• Copy of marriage certificate or other state issued name change document (only applicable if other required documents are under a different name).

Next steps may be found below, in the “What Happens Next?” section.

An applicant who holds a license to practice psychotherapy in the practice of music therapy in another state may apply via general reciprocity. Please use the same steps listed above under “How to Apply” to submit the application. The following documents will be required:

A passing Wisconsin statutes and rules exam score.

Verification of licensure submitted directly by the other state to DSPS.

A passing Wisconsin statutes and rules exam score is required for a Psychotherapy specialty application. The instructions are automatically emailed to you after paying the required fee as part of submitting the application through LicensE.

The official score must be received and manually updated by the credentialing team. You will receive an automated email when the score is posted and do not need to upload a copy of the score yourself.

You must also pass the exam required for certification by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT), or hold registry from the National Music Therapy Registry. Proof of the passing score may be completed via CBMT sending verification of your certification to DSPS. You will need to reach out to CBMT to request this verification.

After you upload all required documents, submit your application, and pay the required fee(s):

1. Preliminary Application Reference Number (PAR)

   1. Your application will be assigned a Preliminary Application Reference number or PAR number. This number allows you and trusted parties to look up the status of your application without logging in. You can also reference this number in any support tickets you submit in regard to your application.

      • A trusted 3^rd party can look up your credential status by visiting LicensE, clicking “Application Status Lookup” and entering the PAR number you have provided to them.

2. Review Timeline

   1. Your materials will be reviewed within approximately 10 days by a member of the credentialing team.

      • Note: Some licenses do take longer to process due to complexity. You can see the performance data on our LicensE Dashboard to see what date we are reviewing for certain application types under "Application Review Times by Profession."

3. Pending Applicant Input Status

   1. After this review, if anything is missing or the credentialing team has any questions on your application, your application will go back into a status called “Pending Applicant Input.”  You will receive an email letting you know your application was moved into this status. You should then log into LicensE and check your application “Due Diligence.”

4. To check your "Due Diligence" 

   1. Your Due Diligence is a checklist of items required for your credential.

   2. The Due Diligence section is how DSPS staff will communicate with you regarding your credential requirements.

   3. Log in to your LicensE account

   4. Click on "Check Application Status" 

   5. Your credential application should be shown on this page. Under “Action” select the button that looks like an upside-down triangle. If you are on mobile, you will need to turn your phone into landscape view. Note: LicensE is best viewed on a desktop or laptop.

   6. After clicking the upside-down triangle, select “View Due Diligences.”

   7. The Due Diligence column lets you know what the requirement is.

   8. The “STATUS” column will you know if the item is “Met”, “Not Met”, or “Not Applicable.”

      • Items listed as “Not Met” are items that are needed by the Department.  

   9. The “NOTES” column of your Due Diligence will provide further written details or instructions about what is still needed.

5. To upload documents

   1. Some applications require additional document uploads.

   2. Log into your LicensE account

   3. Click on "Check Application Status"

   4. Your credential application should be shown on this page. Under "Action" select the button that looks like an upside-down triangle. If you are on mobile, you will need to turn your phone into landscape view. Note: LicensE is best viewed on a desktop or laptop. 

   5. After clicking the upside-down triangle, select "Upload Document."

   6. The document must be an allowable document type. 

   7. After uploading the document, click "submit." If you do not, it will not be sent to a reviewer. 

6. If you have any questions, you can submit a support ticket on LicensE by logging in and clicking "request support" at the top of the page.

LicensE statuses that require action from applicant:

LicensE statuses that indicate the application is with Department staff:

Support Ticket
Submit a support ticket on LicensE and click "request support." Please provide as much detail as possible regarding your concern so we can work to answer your question with a one touch resolution. 

Call
608-266-2112

Email
dsps@wisconsin.gov

Office Hours
7:45am-4:30pm
Department of Safety and Professional Services
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI, 53705

Note: The in-person office does not process same day.