Music Therapy & Sound
The National Association of Music Therapy defines music therapy as “the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”
Put simply, my delightful mission as your Board-Certified Music Psychotherapist is to create music-based experiences that meet you where you are, support you in your Quest, Crossing or Ceremony, and help you move toward what matters most to you.
Such a simple secret: by letting things out, we also let things in. So if you’re cut off, estranged, numb - sing, give voice to anything. It needn’t sound pretty. Simply, bravely, open, despite the difficulty, and let what is in out, and what is out in. Sing, and your life will continue. Mark Nepo -
The good news is you don’t need to be a musician to engage in musical experiences, because the alchemy happens anyways. Whether you’re actively making music or you're simply listening, something stirs inside. Something shifts – our energy, mood, perception, or perspective. Listening in meditative stillness as well as moving, journalling, or creating art with music as your muse can often be just as impactful as singing or playing an instrument. And the collective resonance that can occur in a group of people who are making music together is an experience that's hard to put into words - it needs to be experienced.
The power of music to integrate and cure… is quite fundamental.
It is the profoundest non-chemical medication.
- Oliver Sacks, MD -
Working with sound is grounded in the science of vibration. While all music involves vibration, sound practices typically employ the use of specific instruments such as singing bowls, rattles, voices and gongs to invite physical, emotional, mental and/or spiritual balancing, relaxation, and healing. In most cases these are receptive experiences offered through a sound bath or sound journey, although joining in with your voice or co-creating in a group can be welcome variations.
In addition to using music and sound-based practices as navigational tools in sessions, I offer clinical supervision for music therapists and periodically offer academic courses, workshops and trainings in Nature Informed Music Therapy and other topics - sign up to my e-list to be notified or contact me if you have a request.