About Me: Neuro-Affirming music therapy for children and teens.

I am a board-certifed music therapist (CBMT: #16398) who specializes in neurodivergence and co-occurring mental health concerns. I believe that innately everyone is musical and anyone who wants to make music has every right to. As a music therapist, I am trained to adapt instruments and create interventions to encourage self-expression, self-advocacy, and build skills that translate to activities for daily living. I am heavily influenced by Nordoff-Robbins, DIR/Floortime, Sprouting Melodies, and Neurologic Music Therapy. I enjoy seeing a child, tween, or teen thrive and find joy in creating music, all while secondarily targeting development.

I am also a certificed Neurologic Music Therapist. Neurologic music therapy (NMT) is a neuroscience-based approach that focuses on supporting, developing, or rehabilitating cognitive, speech, and motor skills. NMT techniques are heavily research-based, require advanced training to facilitate and require extensive continuing education to remain certified. Mikelia became a music therapist because she saw the effectiveness of neurologic music therapy with folks who sustained a traumatic brain injury. She continues to see NMT as an effective intervention for children to learn and practice skills while having fun through music. 

When you work with me, we will focus on:

Building rapport, self-advocacy and communication through preferred and improvisational music

Adapting musical instruments to target specific goals (like fine or gross motor)

Working with individual differences to create a safe sensory environment and encouraging exploration.