What to Know About H&H’s Internship

by Annamarie De Jesús, Music Therapy Intern

I see you’re here because you’re interested in finding out more about Heart and Harmony’s music therapy internship – welcome! I’m happy you’re here. My name is Annamarie De Jesús, and I’m Heart and Harmony’s Fall 2025 intern. I’m currently in my last month of internship and am looking forward to obtaining my degree this spring. In this post, I’ll be sharing my experience of completing my 1,200 hours here – and hopefully giving you the inside scoop you need to decide if this site is the right fit for you.  

Who is Heart and Harmony?

Before diving into what the internship looks like day to day, I think it’s helpful to understand who Heart and Harmony is as a company and who they serve. 

Heart and Harmony Music Therapy is a team of music therapists and music therapy interns who are committed to providing accessible, high-quality services to the Dallas-Fort Worth community.

What makes them especially unique is their commitment to flexibility. They offer services in-home or via telehealth to provide a least restrictive environment. They work with individuals on the Texas CLASS and YES Medicaid waiver programs and also accept private pay clients. In short, they’re doing meaningful, community-centered work, and that energy really carries through into the internship experience. 

Learn more about the practice at heartandharmony.com/about.

Before Your First Day 

Upon acceptance, it’s important to know that the prep work begins 2 to 3 months before your start date. You’ll work through intake paperwork and a series of trainings like: Abuse Neglect and Exploitation (ANE) training, CPR, First Aid, Crisis Planning, Critical Incident Reporting, Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care training, and De-escation training, plus submitting your updated vaccine documents. It might feel like a lot up front, but by the time orientation rolls around, you’ll feel prepared. 

On your actual start date, you’ll have an orientation meeting with Heart and Harmony’s Clinical Director, Nikki Belshe, the Internship Director, Jordan Tenpas, and your designated supervisors – shoutout to Victor Torres! It’s a warm welcome and a great way to start internship! 

A Typical Day 

Here’s an important fact: most of your day is spent in the car and in client homes, not in an office. Sessions are located in client homes or facilities mostly in the Fort Worth area, with some observation opportunities in Dallas. If you want to shorten your commute, I’d recommend checking in with the Internship Director before you move to see what areas you’ll be working in.  

Each day, you’ll meet up with your supervisor at a designated meeting point and then ride together in their car to sessions. This is why it’s important to have everything you need with you (i.e. lunch, snacks, medicine, your materials), because that’s your home base for the day. It sounds simple, but being organized and prepared makes a huge difference. 

Drive time doubles as supervision time. Before and after sessions, you have conversations with your supervisors about your session plans, what went well, what you’re still figuring out, therapeutic methods, musical approaches, rapport building, even admin work and budgeting. It’s honestly some of the most valuable learning time of the whole internship, and a great way to build relationships with your supervisors. 

You may also get some coffee shop breaks in the afternoons. These breaks are perfect for catching up on paperwork, prepping session plans, working on rep, or just taking a breath when you need it. 

Assignments, Materials, and What You’ll Need 

Once you start, you’ll receive an internship syllabus with weekly and monthly assignments, plus variable assignments that are due two weeks before your end date. Supervisors are also open to assigning extras if you want/need more practice in a specific area. 

As for materials, the two non-negotiables are a guitar or ukulele and a device that can connect to a hotspot. Just about every single session requires live playing in some capacity, whether that’s for music listening, fill-in-the-blank singing, lyric analysis, or music-based games. Being able to play your repertoire on both guitar and ukulele is also a real plus, since different settings call for different instruments. Lastly, your device will hold everything: music, visual aids, paperwork, and notetaking. 

If you don’t own a ukulele or a tablet yet, don’t stress! Heart and Harmony is happy to lend you the resources you need: instruments, tablets, printers, laminators, masks, gloves, disinfecting wipes, you name it. Other benefits include 40 hours of time off, extra supervision time when needed, music check-ins for musical development, monthly check-ins for personal wellness, and a $500 stipend upon completion. Pretty great, right? 

The Session Experience 

Over the course of your 6 months, you can expect to work with around 20-25 different clients altogether, leading roughly 12-18 sessions per week (though this varies depending on client, intern, and supervisor availability, and seasonal cancellations). At the midpoint, supervisors will evaluate your progress using AMTA competencies so you’ll have a clear sense of where you’re growing and what to keep working on. 

The biggest thing I can tell you about sessions is this: no two sessions are alike. You’ll be adapting your musical style, counseling methods, therapeutic interventions, and communication approach constantly. Flexibility is what makes a session truly successful and what helps you grow as a therapist in the private practice field. 

So, Should You Apply? 

I hope this gave you a real picture of what life looks like inside Heart and Harmony’s internship. It’s busy, it’s meaningful, and it teaches you things you genuinely can’t learn in a classroom. If you’re ready to put in the work, you’ll get so much in return. I’d encourage you to go for it – I’m so glad I did! 

The application process can be found at heartandharmony.com/internship.