Increasing our Music Therapy capacity: welcome Kristin

We are thrilled to be starting the year by increasing our capacity to deliver quality music therapy services across the Perth metropolitan area. As demand for music therapy continues to increase from people of all ages we are grateful to have Kristin joining the team. If you’d like to know a little more about Kristin read on…

Kristin has a Bachelors and Honours degreee in specialist music studies from the University of Western Australia, a Master of Music Therapy from the University of Melbourne and is a qualified Neurologic Music Therapist with the International Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy. She is passionate about the capacity of music therapy to help people achieve their goals no matter what stage or area of life they are at. Kristin recalls first witnessing the power of music therapy when volunteering at an aged facility. “Seeing people light up and become so actively engaged in the music process was a beautiful moment to be part of.”

Her goal is to provide accessible community therapy services throughout Perth for people from all walks of life to achieve their goals and feel empowered by their personal strengths (and we’re thrilled she’ll be doing that with Attuned Health).

What do you love about being a music therapist?

Getting to meet and build relationships with so many different people from a variety of backgrounds.  I’m able to learn so much from the people I work with and I love getting to know them and how they use music in their life. It is so rewarding to be able to help people achieve their goals through a medium I am so passionate about – music!

Is there a specific music therapy moment that has stuck with your or shaped your practice?

There are so many wonderful moments! A particularly meaningful moment for me was on a hospital placement with a palliative care patient.  I sang and played her favourite song alongside her daughters and it was such a beautiful moment for all involved.  Facilitating that shared family moment and seeing such a positive response from the patient will stick with me forever.

What is one thing you wish people knew about music therapy?

That it’s the intentional use of music to work towards people’s goals.  It’s way more than just singing songs. There is so much that can be achieved through music therapy and towards a wide variety of different goal areas!

What music or instruments do you like to play and listen to?

My primary instrument I play is the flute, but I also play guitar and piano.  I also occasionally try my luck at the clarinet that sits in my cupboard gathering dust. As a typical graduate flautist, I love listening to orchestral flute music (I’m a sucker for Liebermann), but I also love listening to some golden oldies! Studying music therapy straight from honours, and listening to everyone’s musical preferences has resulted in my tastes being ‘a bit of this and a bit of that’!

Tell us something we might not know about you…

I am obsessed with Christmas (It’s never too early for Christmas carols) and I have a great dislike for any type of creepy crawlies – they are avoided at all costs.

Please help us make Kristin feel welcome if you meet her out and about in the community.