Tríona McCaffrey is Associate Professor of Music Therapy at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland. She has practice experience in adult mental health where she developed the first full-time music therapy service in this sector in Ireland. She has a strong track record of collaborative working with health service users and providers, completing several Public and Patient Involvement projects to date. Her research is most often interdisciplinary with a key focus on music for mental health recovery and perinatal mental wellbeing. Tríona is an editorial board member on the journal 'The Arts in Psychotherapy' and has several academic publications and funding awards.

Music therapy in adult mental health and perinatal mental health

Music for perinatal wellbeing

Music therapy post development

Qualitative, mixed-method and arts-based methodologies

Over the past two decades, Tríona has taught on the MA Music Therapy, the only professional training programme in music therapy on the island Ireland. Her goal for her students is that they become agile, articulate, courageous, curious and responsible UL graduates who foster use of music and arts to promote health and well-being. Tríona’s teaching covers a broad range of topics related to clinical orientation, child development, adult mental health, perinatal mental health, professional skills in music therapy and health research. Tríona has extensive experience of coordinating national and international fieldwork placements and has taught at several international institutions in Germany, Norway, the UK. In 2020, she was short-listed for the Regional Teaching Excellence Award. Together with international colleagues from Australia, Brazil and India, Tríona founded the Global Music Therapy Educators Network that brought together over 80 music therapy educators from across the world to develop strategies for online music therapy teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024 Tríona was awarded a badge for Universal Design for Learning to ensure that UL is an inclusive experience for all learners.