Hey! I’m Carly.
Children & Adolescents (including Global Developmental Delays)
Life Transitions
Emotional Regulation Skills
Anxiety/Stress Reduction
Medical Trauma Processing
Self-Awareness & Personal Insight
Professional Philosophy
Music is a phenomenon that naturally brings people together by connecting them through rhythm, emotion, and shared experiences. I consider myself a humanistic therapist. My focus is client-directed and person-centered. I believe that therapy is driven by the development of relationships. These relationships are the essential force that guides the direction of therapy. We will identify obstacles impacting our lives and explore solutions that promote growth.
What I love about music therapy and the creative arts is its flexibility and adaptability to fit any situation. We will create an environment that promotes connection, expression, and communication. Musical and creative processes offer opportunities to deepen one’s self-examination and reflection. As a result, we hope to gain a sense of clarity and insight into understanding our internal and external worlds. The creative process is innately a collaborative experience. Therefore, we will navigate this journey together! My mission is for my clients to gain an enriched sense of empowerment and self-awareness when dealing with all aspects of life.
“Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”
― Leonard Bernstein
Personal Background
Music is my life, literally! I grew up surrounded by music—listening to my parents serenade me to sleep on the guitar, dancing around my house to The Beatles, singing improvised songs with my Barbies, and putting on performances for my family. Music brought meaning, joy, and purpose into my life. I have witnessed the many ways music bridged connection, provided validation, enriched memories, and welcomed creative freedom of expression. I knew that I needed to share this with others but didn’t exactly know how.
When I was in middle school, my family and I were asked to provide music for a mass created for families with children who have special needs. Not only did this spark my love for working with this population, but it also exposed me to the powerful impact music offers in building a sense of community, fostering human connection, and empowering authentic self-expression. This discovery was later reinforced when I had the opportunity to shadow a music therapist at a children’s hospital. The moment I was introduced to music therapy, everything clicked!
Over the course of my educational training and career, my love and passion for music therapy has intensified and grown exponentially. I have witnessed and observed how music and the creative arts offer an alternative way of processing, communicating, relating, and healing. All humans are creative beings. The arts are an innate life force that attunes our minds, bodies, and souls. I goal is that my love and passion for music will motivate and resonate within my clients.
AREAS OF FOCUS
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 also offer specialized areas in the following areas:
Children and Adolescents—including individuals with global developmental delays.
Music, creative arts, and play offer an alternative modality for adaptive communication and self-expression. Music therapy is effective in developing and strengthening communication skills, interpersonal skills, gross/fine motor skills, sensory processing skills, and emotion regulation skills. Musical spaces create a playground for verbal and non-verbal self-expression, socialization, autonomy, and self-esteem.
Acute and/or Chronic Medical Conditions—specialties in pediatrics.
Hospitalization (whether you are a patient, family member, or sibling) is an incredibly stressful and often traumatizing experience. Working in a medical setting, I have assisted and supported patients and their families navigate through the stress of inpatient and outpatient care. Music therapy is effective in promoting healthy coping strategies, reducing stress, managing pain, processing medical trauma, and offering bereavement support (e.g. loss of a loved one or the impacts of a terminal diagnosis). I am familiar and comfortable working alongside healthcare professionals who struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic to rebuild self-esteem, identity, and resilience.
Self-Awareness
Often, people seek therapeutic services to deepen their understanding of self and to promote insight, fulfillment, and healthy relationships. Music therapy, creative arts, and verbal therapy are effective modalities that are utilized to bring unconscious material to one’s current state of awareness. As a trained analytical music therapist, I specialize in examining the depths of one’s internal psyche and explore unconscious material through musical or arts-based interventions. We may also incorporate mindfulness, embodiment, and somatic exercises to assist in deeper reflection. My aim is to act as a supportive guide in promoting self-awareness and a stronger sense of self.