Moving Our Profession Forward:

“Modulations: Connecting Legacy and Innovation in Current Practice” Featuring Dr. Barbara Wheeler, Keynote speaker

Saturday October 18th 2025, 8:00am-4:15pm

 

Keynote biography:  Barbara L. Wheeler, PhD, MT-BC, is Professor Emeritus at Montclair State University in New Jersey, where she taught from 1975 to 2000. Dr. Wheeler initiated the music therapy program at the University of Louisville in 2000, retiring in 2011. She presents and teaches in the United States and internationally, with recent faculty appointments at the Department of Social Studies, University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Würzburg, Germany; and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland. Barbara has been an active clinician throughout her career, working with diverse clientele. Dr. Wheeler has edited and authored a number of chapters, articles, and books, including editing Music Therapy Research (now in its third edition, with Kathleen Murphy as associate editor) and Music Therapy Handbook (soon to be published in its second edition, with Michael Viega and Andeline Dos Santos as co-editors), and coauthoring Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist (with Donna Polen and Carol Shultis, now in its second edition). She is a past president of the American Music Therapy Association and former Discussion and later Interview Coeditor for Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Barbara was honored to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Federation of Music Therapy in 2017 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Music Therapy Association in 2019.

 

 

See conference program here:

See Keynote Speech here:

Concurrent Presentations:

• Meaghan Jackson, MA, RCT-C, MTA, FAMI:  “From Loss to Lament: A study of songwriting as an expression of grief on Cape Breton Island.”
• Sheila Lee, MA, MTA, FAMI, NICU-MT, NMT, RCC:  “Expressive Therapies in Neurorehabilitation.”  See video here:
• Kirstin Davis, MTA, MA, RCC:  “Playing guitar with cops:  Developing Music Therapy Services for First Responders with PTSD.”
• Noele Bird, MMT, MTA, RCC, FAMI, & Liz Moffit, MA, MTA, RCC, FAMI:  “From Roots to Resonance:  Evolving the Bonny Method of GIM for a Trauma-Informed World.”
• Lisa Mulally, RCC, MTA:  “Designing Bottom-Up Care:  Building a Polyvagal-Informed, Neurosequential, and Neurodivergent-Affirming Interdisciplinary Team.”  See video here:
• Camilla Schroeder, BMT, CMT, NMT:  “I lost my voice for 2 months in 2024!”
• Sue Baines, PhD, MTA, FAMI:  “Anti-Oppressive Music Therapy in Times Such as These.”
• Jessica Shen, MTA, BMT, NMT:  “Adapting Music Therapy in Long Term Care: Inclusive and Creative Approaches to Support Diverse Needs.”
• Clara Troje, MTA, BMT, BMus:  “Creativity, Identity, and Awkward Moments:  A Music Therapy Pilot Project in Inpatient Youth Eating Disorder Treatment.”
• Kathleen VanderPloeg, BMus:  “Use the Old to Touch the New.”

Panel Discussion:

Cultural Safety in Music Therapy Practice

Panelists:

Felicia Wall, BMT, CMT

Abigail LaForest, BMT

Location

Health Sciences Association Building – 180 e Columbia street, New Westminster BC, V3L 0G7