The Canadian Music Therapy Podcast

 What happens when you combine someone with a career as a music therapist & psychotherapist with someone who is an entrepreneur, TV host and all-around curious person? Welcome to the Canadian Music Therapy Podcast! In this episode, Adrienne speaks about her roots in music therapy and how her passion for work in hospice & community singing has shaped her career. Cathy shares with listeners about her early sales career when she was 4 years old and her background in business development & mental health.

 In this inaugural episode of the podcast, Adrienne and Cathy speak with Dr. Sandi Curtis from Montreal Quebec as she shares her wealth of knowledge about feminist music therapy. Dr. Curtis shares her mission about why she wrote her book entitled “Music for Women (Survivors of Violence): A feminist music therapy interactive e-book” along with her approach to feminist music therapy. Sandi shares how music therapy is a powerful tool for women and girls who survive violence.

 From Canada’s eastern most city on the North Atlantic we are featuring the work of Susan LeMessurier Quinn at the Janeway Children’s Hospital, Eastern Health, in St. John’s Newfoundland. We will connect with Susan to learn more about the versatility of music therapy and stories from both inpatient and outpatient settings with children and youth. Susan shares her experience with a young patient in the NICU and how music therapy had a profound impact on the infant's health and well-being. She also highlights the ways that Telehealth is providing essential health care and mental health support to children and youth in report communities as far away as Labrador. 

Noreen Donnell is a Certified Music Therapist and Registered Psychotherapist with over 30 years of clinical experience. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with the first Undergraduate (1988) and Graduate (2003) Music Therapy classes and has dedicated her entire career to the field. Her most recent success is the creation of the Commusicate program which is being used by music therapist’s internationally! Noreen candidly tells us about her personal journey becoming a certified music therapist. The poignant stories she shares about three unique clients and how music made a pivotal difference in their lives will connect you to why music therapy is a powerful modality for growth and healing. 

 Jennifer’s company JB Music Therapy has been instrumental in the implementation of hundreds of music therapy programs throughout Canada for almost 30 years and has been thrice nominated for the Community Impact Award by the Chamber of Commerce.  Jennifer is the recipient of the two most prestigious Canadian music therapy lifetime service awards: the Franni Award and the Norma Sharpe Award.

She is the Executive Director for the Canadian Association of Music Therapists and has been an invited keynote speaker at national and international conventions speaking on music therapy and health entrepreneurship to a wide variety of education, healthcare, government, small business, and corporate audiences.

As an author of two award-winning books – ‘Tune In‘ and ‘Wellness Incorporated‘ she has appeared as a guest on numerous news and current affairs programs including Fox News Health, NBC, CBS, CTV, Global TV, CBC Radio and Television and has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and Canadian Living.

In addition to her Music Therapy education, Jennifer has her Executive MBA specializing in social entrepreneurship from the University of Fredericton. 

Elizabeth Eldridge is a Certified Music Therapist, Psychological Healthy & Safety Consultant and serial entrepreneur. Following her music therapy degree at Acadia University she completed her clinical internship in Mental Health Recovery Services in Hamilton, Ontario, which ignited her passion for mental health. In her role as an intern she gained invaluable experience working on an interdisciplinary team supporting clients living with various psychiatric illnesses. She returned home to southern New Brunswick in 2008 and established Arpeggio Music Therapy, which has expanded to include internship and subcontracting positions.
 

In 2012, after identifying the need for mental health education for laypersons, Elizabeth founded Arpeggio Health Services whose ever-growing team now provides training opportunities like Mental Health First Aid Canada-wide. Taking on additional education related to mental health herself, Elizabeth launched a consulting practice and now works as an advisor to companies that are adopting best practices around psychological health and safety management, striving to optimize workplace mental health to boost productivity, decrease absenteeism and improve employee engagement, retention and workplace culture.
 

Elizabeth has served in various board and committee roles over the years in support of the growth of music therapy as a profession, including a term as president of the Canadian Association of Music Therapists.

Susan Summers, PhD, MTA is a certified music therapist and vocal psychotherapist who has been passionate about her work with older adults and those at end-of-life care for over three decades. She teaches in the music therapy department at Capilano University, serves on several professional association boards, and is in private practice. Her graduate work research focused on the healing and therapeutic use of voice. She has been a member of the UBC research team for ten years with an interest in music therapy clinical practice with seniors with dementia. She brings her passion for advocacy for music therapy to her current roles as MTABC and CAMT Advocacy and Government regulations chair.

 Kiki Chang is the current President of the Canadian Association of Music Therapists.  She has been a Certified Music Therapist (MTA) since 2009, primarily working in hospital and long-term care settings with older adults.  Kiki has completed graduate-level training in both music therapy and counselling and psychotherapy, and is currently a PhD candidate specializing in health policy and equity.  Her doctoral research focuses on the government regulation of health care professions from a health equity perspective and its impacts on music therapy in Canada. 

Joel Klassen is a Certified Music Therapist (MTA) living and working in rural Southern Manitoba. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Therapy (Nordoff-Robbins) from the University of Edinburgh. For the past 15 years he has been a full-time music therapist for Eden Health Care Services, serving a mental health hospital and numerous long term care homes. Trained in cello, piano, guitar and voice, his clinical work focuses on dementia care and the enabling of recovery from mental illness.
Joel serves as a practicum supervisor and lecturer for CMU in Winnipeg, and is currently vice president on the board of the Canadian Association of Music Therapists.

Chrissy received her Honours Bachelor of Music Therapy from the University of Windsor in 2002. She completed her internship at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Aging and Veterans Care. She is a certified music therapist (MTA), a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists (RP) and a Fellow of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (FAMI). She has worked with people of all ages facing a diverse range of challenges in settings such as community mental health, schools, long term care, hospitals and in private practice. Currently, Chrissy works in Toronto at Baycrest Centre in palliative care and inpatient psychiatry, she is the and in April of this year she became the Executive Director of the Canadian Music Therapy Fund. Chrissy is an active supervisor and has received teaching and supervision awards from both Sunnybrook and Baycrest.
Over the years, Chrissy has served on various committees for the Canadian Association of Music Therapists and, during her time in Winnipeg, spent a term as President of the Music Therapy Association of Manitoba. Advocating for music therapy and providing presentations and consultations about the benefits of music therapy is an important part of her wo

On this episode, Dr. Kevin Kirkland delves into the current research that is happening in BC in the field of music therapy along with his mission to shed a light on supporting individuals who have had adverse childhood experiences. 

A little more about Dr. Kevin Kirkland:

 Dr. Kevin Kirkland is an instructor in the Bachelor of Music Therapy program at Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and music therapist at the Burnaby Centre for Mental & Addiction. He has been a music therapist for over 30 years. His previous research was in areas of dementia care and music therapy. For the past decade his current focus is primarily on the intersections of trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and music therapy.