Hello! My name is Petra.
Multilingual (fluent in English, Czech and Romani)
Children & Adolescents with Developmental disabilities (autism spectrum disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders)
Foster Care & Adoption
Acute & Chronic Medical Conditions
Immigration & Acculturation
Professional Philosophy
When it comes to therapy, one size fits one. Some people benefit from a sustained dive into their past, their relationships, or their place in society. Others are more interested in finding solutions to personal problems in the present. For many clients, using music in the therapeutic process allows them to fast-track and optimize the emotional work they need to do before they can make meaningful changes in their lives.
Music psychotherapy can involve anything from talking about song lyrics to actually making music. Connecting conversations, personal stories, or even doodles to music has a way of drawing out feelings better than words ever could. It can also be a powerful tool for learning new, healthy habits. At some point in therapy, you may want to listen to music, make some noise with your voice, drum on a desk, or improvise a song. Or you may just want to speak with a therapist who is attuned to the tone of your voice, the rhythm of your breath, and the resonance of life experiences in your body.
“Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening.”
― Aretha Franklin
Personal Background
I have been a board-certified music therapist since 2015, working with clients of all ages. As an immigrant of mixed background, I’ve dealt with misunderstandings between multiple languages and communities, and I am very aware of how cultures shape us. Whether it’s how families work in our ethnic group, expectations of behavior in our society, our musical cultures, religious/spiritual lives, or our work and school cultures, we are influenced by countless relationships.
I have a deep interest in each person’s backgrounds and identities, so I can help clients build on what’s useful in these relationships. But creative arts therapy can also help clients untangle themselves from cultural messages that oppress them. Like many musicians, I carry tradition in my body and pass it on through my voice. This doesn’t mean I agree with everything that’s said in songs written by other people. I want to help you find YOUR strongest voice in the world that surrounds you.
Specialties Descriptions
All of us here at START address the mental health areas of stress, trauma, and anxiety in our practice. We apply these three topics to unique, specific challenges that our clients are going through. I offer specialized treatment in the following areas:
Children, Adolescents, and Families – including individuals with developmental disabilities such as autism or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and issues related to foster care or adoption
Music therapy is particularly effective in strengthening developmental skills as well as bonds between family members. Goal areas may include speech and language (specialized interventions for increasing functional communication); attachment (breaking down barriers through shared musical experiences); behavioral challenges or coping with the stresses of parenting (providing a safe outlet for explosive emotions, using psychotherapy techniques to bring about change); and others.
Acute and Chronic Medical Conditions
I have helped many clients and their families cope in the context of stroke recovery, dementia, Parkinson’s, and/or terminal illness. I am also sensitive to the life-altering stresses of chronic pain and disabling conditions. Music therapy addresses a number of goal areas, both in the realm of psychotherapy (frustration, anticipatory grief, relationships) and in rehabilitation or mitigation of symptoms (memory care, pain management, speech, range of motion, etc.). In the context of a therapeutic relationship, music acts as powerful medicine.