Music Therapy Conversations

In Episode 110, following a discussion on social media, Luke talks to Ben Richardson about the language around music therapy, Relational Frame Theory, commissioning, and whether music therapy is actually 'functional all the way down'. You'll be hearing more from Ben at the BAMT conference in November 2026, and no doubt in future publications, but Music Therapy Conversations got here first! Ben Ric...

Mary-Clare Fearn is a HCPC registered music therapist, neurologic music therapist, supervisor, trainer and consultant with many years of experience working with children, young people and adults across education, healthcare and community settings. She is recognised for her integrative and collaborative approach, combining relational, trauma-informed and neurologic frameworks to optimise therapeuti...

Dr Sami Alanne, DMus, music therapist, training psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, is an Adjunct/Associate Professor of music therapy and a researcher at the University of the Arts Helsinki. His studies include traumas, refugeeism, mental health, psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy relating to music, culture, philosophy, and society. He is the author of the books The Theory and Practice of Psychodynami...

This is the second instalment of Anita Connell's recorded interviews from the Australian Music Therapy Conference, following on from episode 104. Dr Grace Thompson is a registered music therapist and Associate Professor in Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne. Grace has lived experience of disability, and has worked with disabled children, young people and their families for over 20 years...

Tamar Hadar, PhD, is co-head of the Music Therapy Program at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, where she leads the program together with Dr. Maayan Salomon-Gimmon. She completed her M.A. and PhD in Music Therapy at Bar-Ilan University. Her doctoral research - supervised by Prof. Dorit Amir - compared clinical improvisation and jazz improvisation. Tamar's first postdoctora...

Episode 105 is another interview from Crystal Luk-Worrall. In this episode, Crystal talks to music therapist Hugh Anderson. Hugh is a freelance Music Therapist and currently runs his own private practice, Thame Music Therapy, in South Oxfordshire. He trained at The Guildhall from 2014-2016 and has had a wide range of experiences working in mainstream and specialist schools and nurseries, as well a...

In this episode, first Luke talks to Anita, then we hear Anita's interviews with Professors Denise Grocke and Alison Short. Sandwiched between these two longer interviews there are some shorter conversations with Pip Reid, Lucy Bolger, Wendy Magee, Helen Cameron, Catherine Threlfall and Emma O'Brien. This all took place at the AMTA conference in October 2025, in Melbourne. Emeritus Professor Denis...

In episode 103, Crystal Luk-Worrall interviews Carine Ries. Crystal is a new addition to the Music Therapy Conversations team of interviewers - more interviews from her coming soon! (You can also listen to Davina's interview with Crystal, if you haven't already, as this is  episode 91 .) Carine completed her undergraduate degree in Music & Psychology at the University of Leeds before moving to Lon...

In this episode, Martin Lawes talks with Tim Honig, PhD, MT-BC This podcast conversation about Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) includes discussion about how the cultural context may affect practice, about the music's role as co-therapist, and about the use of different types of music. The ongoing development of GIM worldwide is also considered where Music and Imagery (MI) methods are becoming incre...

Episode 101 is Luke's interview with Tina Warnock. This took place online in April 2025. Their conversation had a strong focus on vocal psychotherapy, including Tina's personal process of discovering this powerful therapeutic practice, and her current roles in developing training and research in this area. Tina Warnock is originally from Hertfordshire in England and has been based in Brighton, Eas...

The 100th episode is here! Luke and Davina look back on the podcast - how it started out, where it has come to, what they have learned so far. They also go on conversational detours, considering their own perspectives on this profession, including current discussions about diversity, inclusion and race, along with the nature of music in music therapy, and how individual, as well as multi-faceted,...

Davina talks to Michele Forinash DA, MT-BC, LMHC about her experiences working with AIDS patients in hospice in the 1980s, topics around white supremacy and colonialism in music therapy, Michele's experiences as a queer music therapist, and the decolonisation of research and practice. This is a rich and inspiring interview with a music therapist with deep insights from a long and varied career to...

Tessa Watson is a music therapist and trainer. She is Associate Professor and Programme Leader for the MA Music Therapy at University of Roehampton and works in that setting with colleagues across the Arts and Play Therapies and other HCPC registered professions. She has extensive clinical experience in mental health and learning disability work and her current music therapy work is with the child...

In episode 97, Davina Vencatasamy talks to her friend and distinguished colleague Jasmine Edwards. Jasmine Edwards, MA, LCAT, MT-BC (she/her) is a doctoral candidate and fellow within Steinhardt Music Education with a focus in music therapy at New York University. Jasmine holds a BM and MA in music therapy from Florida State University and NYU, respectively. Her clinical experiences include privat...

Tamsin is a multi-instrumentalist and composer with roots in the traditional dance tunes of the British Isles. Her debut solo album  FREY  (2022) established her as a rising star on the folk scene, with The Guardian praising her  "beautiful, filmic compositions for accordion, harp, whistle and voice" . In this work Tamsin explores themes of limbo, pain, healing and acceptance, reflecting on the mi...

In this episode, Davina Vencatasamy talks to Dr Chamari Wedamulla. Chamari is an independent researcher specialising in music education, with expertise in integrating music therapy approaches to enhance student mental health and well-being. Previously affiliated with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Birmingham City University,  Chamari contributed to the Fair & Inclusive Music Midlands (FIMM...

Luke speaks to Jonathan 'Jaytee' Tang about his PhD research, which makes links between music therapy, music psychology and cultural psychology. They discuss the concepts of independent vs interdependent self-construal, and the relevance of this to musical interactions. This has some fascinating implications for music therapy practice. Jonathan (Jaytee) Tang has over nine years of international cl...

Colin Lee talks to Martin Lawes about his musicology-oriented approach as a Nordoff-Robbins trained music therapist, and about the newly published  Oxford Handbook of Queer and Trans Music Therapy which he edited. The podcast begins and ends with music. To start with, a composition by a music therapist commissioned to begin the handbook. To conclude, an improvisation from a music therapy session w...

Tilly Mütter has repeated her roving reporter trick from EMTC 2022. This time she talks to various conference attendees at the BAMT conference in Leicester in May 2024, providing a variety of interesting perspectives on the weekend. the theme of the conference was 'About All of Us, For All of Us, By All of Us', with the primary aims of highlighting and promoting the development of Music Therapy. T...

In episode 91, Davina speaks to Crystal Luk-Worrall about EMDR and music therapy. Crystal Luk-Worrall is a music therapist and EMDR therapist working with the adoption community in London through her private practice Clap and Toot, as well as working with bereaved families through her work at Shooting Star Children's Hospices. She enjoys exploring multi-modality practice and systemic practice. Cry...

In this podcast, Martin Lawes talks to  Helen Wallace-Bell about SMI and RMI which are part of the contemporary spectrum of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and Music and Imagery (MI) methods Helen explains what these approaches are and how the recorded music used is chosen collaboratively to help the client develop their inner resources or work on issues. Helen is involved in MI training which also...

Emi talks with Davina about their recent debut at the BAMT Conference in May 2024 where they spoke about their experiences of being a deaf music therapist. Here are Emi's words of introduction: My name's Emi and my pronouns are they/them. I'm a deaf music therapist who currently works in older people's mental health in the NHS. I graduated from the University of Derby in 2022 with my master's in m...

This is the recording of the live discussion from the BAMT conference at the Curve Theatre Leicester on 18 May 2024. The conference panel was Luke Annesley, Rachel Darnley-Smith, Tilly Mutter and Davina Vencatasamy. Surprise special guests were Wendy Magee and Joy Gravestock, who happened to be in the audience, and excerpts were included from previous episodes from Wendy and Joy, along with Denise...

Karen D. Goodman, PhD., Professor Emerita of Music, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA., has been the primary figure in designing and developing both the former undergraduate and graduate music therapy programs at Montclair over forty years. Professor Goodman's research-based clinical work, at ten clinical settings, includes music therapy practice in child and adult psychiatry...

Holly Shirra is a qualified music therapist who holds her focus on helping people connect in community and express themselves creatively and authentically. With classical piano training from a young age, Holly discovered a passion for free improvisation while studying music therapy, which she completed in 2020. To help her understand further how people spontaneously create in groups, Holly founded...