My training as a Certified Music Practitioner

I am a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP). This credential is issued from the Music for Healing and Transition Program➚, the oldest therapeutic music training program accredited by the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians➚.  I graduated in 2012.

Classroom instruction

I completed 80 hours of classroom instruction from the Music for Healing and Transition Program. I read and reviewed ten books for discussion throughout the various classes, and I passed the final exam. 

Here is what I learned:

  • The logistics of working as a Certified Music Practitioner, including HIPAA, patient logs, infection control, and other healthcare protocol

  • How to select music based on how common health conditions and injuries that affect the mind and body

  • How to change the music as the patient’s needs change, based on principles of music theory and observation

  • The history of different healing modalities, including the use of music to promote healing, and how therapeutic music complements allopathic care

  • The physics of sound and current research in music and healing

  • What to expect when playing for the dying

Go to the website for the Music for Healing and Transition Program for a full description of the class modules➚ and requirements for graduation➚.

Clinical practicum & internship

The final classroom module included time to play for patients. It gave me the opportunity to practice everything I learned under supervision, particularly:

  • Navigating the logistics of the hospital setting

  • Getting referrals from the nurses

  • Exhibiting proper etiquette with visitors and roommates

  • Practicing contact precautions and other infection control procedures

My internship was served at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ, where I played for over 120 patients in ICU, CCU, oncology, renal/transplant, cardiac telemetry, cardiac step-down, and pulmonary. I completed anonymous patient logs, and my MHTP advisor provided me with feedback on the therapeutic music choices I made for each patient.

I was hired after my internship, and I have worked at the renamed Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center since 2012.

Non-profit service

From 2012 to 2021, I served on the Board of Directors for the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP)➚, ending as President. I introduced MHTP to videoconferencing in order to teach students remotely, which was implemented several years before the COVID-19 pandemic. (This is also how I teach my harp students➚.)

During that time, I also served on the Board of Directors for the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians➚ (2019 to 2021), formulating a strategic plan for the years to come.

My harp background

The instructors in each MHTP class evaluated my therapeutic playing skills. At the end of my internship, I created a 30-minute CD to demonstrate the types of music taught by MHTP, which my advisor approved.

I have been playing harp since 1993. I played concert music, opera, and musicals in high school and college (my full music background is on EnjoyTheHarp.com➚). After that, I began playing a harp that is smaller than what you typically find in orchestras. I now play the nine-pound, double-strung harp that you see on featured on this site.

The double-strung harp is great for therapeutic music at the bedside because it has two sets of the same strings, providing extra resonance to create healing music for the patients. The size of the model I have is unobtrusive in the patient’s room and easy to maneuver through busy, crowded hallways. Listen to me play examples of therapeutic music on this harp.

Read what staff and patients say about the benefits of therapeutic music, or see ways to contact me.