January 9, 2026

Music is an integral part of many people’s lives. From celebrations to self-expression and relaxation, music is deeply ingrained in the fabric of our culture.

For Joke Bradt, PhD, MT-BC, professor and director of the PhD in Creative Arts Therapies program, music serves as a tool to assist in the rehabilitation and management of those managing major illnesses, disorders and chronic pain.

Her journey began with a general interest in music and curiosity about her future career.

“I was the first one in my family to take lessons on an instrument, and I really loved it. At the end of high school, when it came down to choosing a career path, I initially considered medicine or speech pathology. My piano teacher asked if I had ever heard of music therapy, so I began looking into it,” Bradt recalled.

From there, the Belgian native began her career by earning her master’s in music pedagogy from LUCA School of Arts in Lemmensinstituut, Belgium, in 1994. Continuing her budding interest in music therapy, she earned a master’s in music therapy at Temple University in 1996.

After completing her studies, she returned to Belgium as a music therapist working in inpatient psychiatry and with children with developmental disorders. “After a year, I felt really frustrated with the lack of relevant research in my field of practice, so I decided to pursue a PhD,” Bradt revealed.

Bradt completed her PhD in Health Studies with a focus on Music Therapy in 2001 and worked in research and higher education at various institutions before starting her role at Drexel University.

What is Music Therapy?

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions, such as creating, singing, and listening to music, to address the physical, emotional cognitive, and social needs of individuals through a therapeutic relationship with a board-certified music therapist.

“Music therapists work with many different populations such as people with dementia, stroke, cancer, mental health issues, developmental disabilities, premature infants, and many more. When working with people with dementia, for example, music has an amazing capacity to help them access memories that otherwise may no longer be accessible. Across populations, music is used as a therapeutic vehicle to access and process certain experiences and emotions. For example, a person may find it easier to start talking about feelings evoked by listening to a song in a music therapy session. Music therapists are trained to then scaffold music experiences to help people deepen that exploration.”

Bradt’s research primarily focuses on the use of music therapy for managing chronic pain. She has been the principal investigator of three NIH-funded clinical trials on music therapy for chronic pain management. She has also conducted several studies on music therapy with military service members funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. She currently leads the NIH-funded Music4Pain Research Network, aimed at enhancing understanding the mechanisms underlying the pain-reducing effects of music interventions.

Bradt’s research also includes investigating the treatment benefits of music therapy for people with cancer. Her latest work has included a large-scale clinical trial with a research team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The study compared the effectiveness of virtual music therapy with virtual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety management in cancer survivors.

“The research showed that music therapy was equally effective as CBT, so that is for an important finding for the field. We already knew that music therapy is effective in helping reduce anxiety in people with cancer, but what we needed to do next was to compare music therapy’s effectiveness with first-line treatments for anxiety management in cancer care such as CBT. This will hopefully help music therapy become a reimbursable service in cancer care just like CBT,” she says.

Reflecting more broadly on her research, Bradt highlights the rewarding nature of her work.

“Implementing the research and obtaining good results is, of course, very rewarding. For me personally, all the networking and all the great people you get to meet [is rewarding]. I also really enjoy mentoring early career scholars, such as the students in our PhD program.”

What is the PhD in Creative Arts Therapies?

The PhD in Creative Arts Therapies aims to prepare the next generation of researchers and leaders in creative arts therapies by providing an environment that encourages innovative and rigorous research.

“A unique aspect of our PhD program is the large amount of hands-on research experiences we offer students, beyond their dissertation research. It’s important that students get to experience being a part of research teams, engage in different types of research, and assist with grant writing and publications. All these things are important to become successful researchers,” Bradt says.

Each PhD student is offered a research fellowship, which provides full tuition remission as well as a monthly stipend. In return, students assist faculty in their federally funded research labs. Research fellows’ work may range from assisting with literature reviews, grant writing, data collection and data analysis to being a study coordinator of a clinical trial.

The faculty prides itself on offering close mentorship to students. In addition to research and academic supervision, faculty mentor students in career development and professional networking. “The student-faculty ratio in our program is about 4-5 students per faculty member, so this means that students get very close mentorship and guidance for their dissertation research compared to some other institutions,” she says.

PhD vs Master's Degree

The PhD in Creative Arts Therapies program is one of four graduate programs offered by the Department of Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University. The department also offers degrees in Music Therapy and Counseling, Art Therapy and Counseling and Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling.

Bradt provided insights into the major differences between the two programs.

“The master’s program is designed to help prepare clinicians. In their education, they learn how to consume research so that it can inform their clinical practice, which is important. The PhD program is not about training clinicians. Instead, it helps creative arts therapists become a researcher. PhD students are already trained clinicians looking to help build the evidence base for our field,” Bradt expressed.

Hopes For The Future

At the core of her work, she finds a great sense of joy in teaching and mentoring students as they develop their skills.

“It’s great to be able to teach students research methods that might be new to them, and watch their confidence grow when applying new research methods. I think my favorite part is to help students refine their research interests, and explore different ways to approach a research question,” Bradt says.

Looking ahead, Bradt remains optimistic about the future of music therapy and its continued growth. "Music therapy has a strong evidence base and, as a field, we are ready to move towards conducting large-scale comparative effectiveness trials that compare music therapy with other first-line treatments. That type of evidence is essential for music therapy to be integrated into standard care,” Bradt hopes.

For more information on the program, click here.

Written by Myleah Herbert '25

Photography by Izidor Peterson '27