Canadian Music Therapy

Jennifer Buchanan is a pioneer in the field of music therapy in Canada. She blends health, heart and mastery while continuing to advance the field of music therapy. Jennifer speaks candidly with us about her humble beginnings, her sources of inspiration and how music is a powerful connector for professionals and those from diverse backgrounds.

Meet Jennifer:

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.

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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.

Meet Noreen:

Combining her desire to help others with a lifelong study of music, Noreen Donnell has dedicated more than 30 years to her profession as a Certified Music Therapist. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Music Therapy and a Master's degree in Music Therapy from Wilfrid Laurier University, she has extensive experience working in different settings helping children and adults with developmental delays and physical disabilities, psychiatric and emotional challenges, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. From 2010-2014, she was the Clinical Director of Music Therapy at Blueballoon Health Services. Prior to that position, she operated her own private practise Halton Music Therapy, and has worked at hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and long-term care facilities. She is co-founder of ComMusicate, a successful and unique music-based group intervention program that combines music therapy and speech language pathology to improve communication skills in children. She is also accredited with the Canadian Association for Music Therapy where she served on the national board as Vice President (2004- 2009). Noreen is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario and is a member of the Music Therapy Association of Ontario, Laurier Centre for Music Therapy Research, and the Songwriters Association of Canada. Noreen has also published numerous articles in the Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, and has composed for and produced a children’s CD entitled “Singalingalong”. Noreen is currently operating a supervision practise, MusicByDesign, working as music therapist at Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic School Board, and consults to various organizations. As a musician, Noreen plays piano, guitar, violin and percussion.

Learn more about ComMusicate here: https://beyondthestudio.ca/commusicate

If you are looking for customized online music lessons visit www.beyondthestudio.ca

To join the discussion online, please use hashtag #CanadianMusicTherapy

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.

Meet Susan:

Susan LeMessurier Quinn is a certified music therapist at the Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St. John's, NL. Her clinical experience of over 20 years includes working with children and youth with diverse needs ages 0-18 years in the areas of rehabilitation, child development, acute care, and mental health. She has also provided services in residential treatment for youth experiencing complex mental health illnesses. Susan is a professional associate of the MUN School of Music, a past president of the Atlantic Association of Music Therapy, has served on the board and the advocacy committee for the Canadian Association of Music Therapists, and is currently an instructor for the Creative Arts Therapy program at Concordia University.

If you are a music therapist looking for supervision, learn more at https://beyondthestudio.ca/music-therapy-supervision

To join the discussion online, please use hashtag #CanadianMusicTherapy

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.

Meet Dr. Curtis:

Dr. Sandi Curtis, MT-BC, MTA, is Professor Emeritus in the Music Therapy Program at Concordia University’s Creative Arts Therapies Department in Montreal, Canada. She is an internationally trained music therapist with more than 30 years’ experience in clinical practice, education, and research. Dr. Curtis specializes in work with women and girl survivors of male violence, with current research interests in Feminist Music Therapy and Community Music Therapy.

She is recipient of a Windsor Social Justice Person Award. Dr. Curtis has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and scholarly textbooks, with her most recent being “Music for Women (Survivors of Violence” (2019, Barcelona Publishers). She is a Research Member of the Arts in Health Research Collective and a Fellow in the Simone de Beauvoir Institute. She is co-investigator in a $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities (SSHRC) Partnership research grant exploring “Rape Culture on Campus & the Role & Influence of Arts & Pop Culture” (IMPACTS: Collaborations to Address Sexual Violence on Campus).

For more information about Dr. Curtis and her book, please visit: https://sandicurtis.com/

For more information about the Sing it Girls program, please visit: www.singitgirls.ca

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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 and mental health promotion.