This is the second instalment of Anita Connell's recorded interviews from the Australian Music Therapy Conference, following on from episode 104.

Dr Grace Thompson is a registered music therapist and Associate Professor in Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne. Grace has lived experience of disability, and has worked with disabled children, young people and their families for over 20 years within the early childhood and special education sectors. As part of her PhD research, Grace developed and evaluated a collaborative approach to music therapy practice with families guided by ecological theories and family-centred philosophy. Her research continues to explore the ways music therapists can foster relationships and social connection through participating in engaging and accessible music making. Grace is past president of the Australian Music Therapy Association, author of "Goal Processes in Music Therapy Practice", and co-editor of the book "Music Therapy with Families: Therapeutic Approaches and Theoretical Perspectives". She is currently Editor of the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. The song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (performed by Cass Elliot, written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil) captures the sentiment of Grace's music therapy practice and research.

Brodie Henry (she/they) is a d/Deaf Registered Music Therapist working in Special Education for many years. She embeds Key Word Sign in her clinical practice and is often called on for her skills in Auslan to support students. Brodie embeds advocacy and principles of disability justice in her daily work to ensure children are appropriately supported in their emotional, developmental, and therapeutic needs in order to thrive.

Zoë Kalenderidis (she/her) is a disabled and Hard of Hearing Registered Music Therapist based in Narrm/Melbourne. Her work centres on promoting wellbeing and equitable access to music-making. She holds a Bachelor of Contemporary Music (Voice) from Southern Cross University and a Master of Music Therapy from the University of Melbourne. Since the inception of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra's Adaptive Music Bridging Program, Zoë has served as musical director of the Foundation Groups, supporting disabled children who experience significant barriers to music education. The program fosters accessible ensemble playing using adaptive or standard instruments tailored to each child's interests and needs. Zoë is interested in d/Deaf and disabled aesthetics in music, exploring how musical experiences and creative expression are shaped by diverse modes of listening, embodiment, and sensory perception. She seeks to challenge conventional notions of music-making while celebrating and valuing the artistry of disabled musicians. She is also a published author and co-author, with research that amplifies the visibility and contributions of disabled musicians and Registered Music Therapists.

Rob Devlin is a Registered Music Therapist with over 18 years' experience and is also a Director of Sound Expression. He was previously Senior Music Therapist and Head of Business Development for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. He completed his Masters in Creative Music Therapy through Western Sydney University. He values the use of interactive, improvisational music therapy, as embodied by the Nordoff-Robbins philosophy and approach to clinical music therapy.

Rob has extensive experience as a music therapist with many clinical populations, including children and adults with a wide range of disabilities, neuro-divergent children, adolescents and adults with mental health diagnoses, rehabilitation work with clients who have had strokes, acquired brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. He also has extensive experience providing music therapy in aged care settings including clients with dementia. Before coming to music therapy, Rob had many years' experience in the corporate world in various senior sales and marketing roles. He left that world behind to focus on his passion, which is using music to help others live a more fulfilled and rewarding life.

Tamar Hadar, PhD, is co-head of the Music Therapy Program at the School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, where she leads the program together with Dr. Maayan Salomon-Gimmon. She completed her M.A. and PhD in Music Therapy at Bar-Ilan University. Her doctoral research - supervised by Prof. Dorit Amir - compared clinical improvisation and jazz improvisation. Tamar's first postdoctoral fellowship was at NYU under the mentorship of Prof. Kenneth Aigen, where her work centered on analyzing Nordoff and Robbins's clinical improvisations and developing a theory of time around them. Her second postdoctoral fellowship, under Dr. Tal-Chen Rabinowitch, focused on applying a sociological theory, tight-loose (T-L) in music therapy, alongside a musicological, multicultural perspective.

Tamar is a music therapist, supervisor, and lecturer, working with children and families in an early intervention unit and in private practice. She specializes in child - parent interventions, particularly in the context of trauma and displacement. Her research focuses on clinical improvisation (theory and assessment), music therapy in trauma & displacement, child-parent music therapy, and culturally sensitive music therapy. She also originated a time-model for analyzing clinical improvisations.

References

Benjamin, J. (2004). Beyond doer and done to: Recognition and the intersubjective third. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 73(1), 5-46.

Hadar, T. (2025). Moments of thirdness in music therapy: A qualitative meta-analysis embedded in Jessica Benjamin's intersubjectivity. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 17(3).

Hadar, T., & Aigen, K. (2025). A Theory of Time in Music Therapy: A Model for Analyzing Nordoff–Robbins Clinical Improvisation. Journal of Music Therapy, 62(2), thaf014.

Hadar, T., & Rabinowitch, T. C. (2025). Tight or Loose? Reframing Musical Relationships Between Client and Therapist in Music Therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 43(2), miaf018.

Hadar, T. (2024). Parenting in the Face of Trauma: Music Therapy to Support Parent–Child Dyads Affected by War and Displacement. Children, 11(10), 1269.

Roginsky, E., Hadar, T., Midhat-Najami, N., Saada, B., Khoury, R., & Hebi, M. (2025). Breathing war, dreaming connection: Dialogue as an ethical foundation for collaborative work of Palestinian and Jewish music therapists in Israel. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 17(1).

Hadar, T., & Amir, D. (2018). Discovering the flute's voice: On the relation of flutist music therapists to their primary instrument. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 27(5), 381-398.

Episode 105 is another interview from Crystal Luk-Worrall. In this episode, Crystal talks to music therapist Hugh Anderson.

Hugh is a freelance Music Therapist and currently runs his own private practice, Thame Music Therapy, in South Oxfordshire. He trained at The Guildhall from 2014-2016 and has had a wide range of experiences working in mainstream and specialist schools and nurseries, as well as in different charity and community settings. The latter included eight years at the charity Resources for Autism in north London, where he was Head of Therapies from 2020-2023. Before training as a Music Therapist, Hugh worked for the charity Kids Company for six years, was a peripatetic piano teacher and was a songwriter and performer within a number of different bands.

Two years ago, Hugh discovered a different kind of improvisation in the form of improvised theatre and comedy, aka Improv. He is exploring the overlaps between Improv and Music Therapy and is currently collaborating with Dramatherapist Tim Goldman to set up an adult community group which combines music, movement, drama and free play to support mental health and group connection.

Hugh is a mentor on the BAMT NQMT mentoring scheme, a clinical supervisor and an active member of the BAMT Freelance and BAMT Oxfordshire network groups.

Improv Blog: https://thamemusictherapy.co.uk/improv-theatre-freeze-tag-discovery-and-saying-yes/

Working with parents in MT Blog: https://thamemusictherapy.co.uk/being-a-parent-of-a-child-in-music-therapy/

In this episode, first Luke talks to Anita, then we hear Anita's interviews with Professors Denise Grocke and Alison Short. Sandwiched between these two longer interviews there are some shorter conversations with Pip Reid, Lucy Bolger, Wendy Magee, Helen Cameron, Catherine Threlfall and Emma O'Brien. This all took place at the AMTA conference in October 2025, in Melbourne.

Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke PhD, RMT, RGIMT, FAMI, L. Mus.

Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke completed her music therapy qualifications at Michigan State University, USA, and holds a Masters degree in Music Therapy, and a PhD in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), both from the University of Melbourne. She has worked as a music therapist with people living with mental illness, neurological disorders and dementia. She is trained in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, and is a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery in the U.S. She established the music therapy course at the University of Melbourne in 1978, and for 33 years was Head of Music Therapy. From 1998-2012 she was Director of the National Music Therapy Research Unit (NaMTRU), which she established to promote research in music therapy at a national level. She co-founded the International Consortium of Music Therapy Research Universities in 2002, which enabled large international multi-site trials to advance the Profession. She was President of the World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT) from 1999-2002, having served three terms as Chair of the Commission of Education, Training and Registration. She co-founded the Australian Music Therapy Association in 1975 and served two terms as its President. Professor Grocke has written extensively on music therapy and Guided Imagery and Music. She is co-author of Receptive Music Therapy (2024, with Dr Katrina McFerran); editor of Guided Imagery and Music: The Bonny Method and Beyond 2nd edition (2019); Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and Music Imagery Methods for Individual and Group Therapy (2015; co-edited with Torben Moe); co-author of Receptive Methods in Music Therapy (2007) with Tony Wigram, and co-editor of Music Medicine 3 (1999) with Rosalie Rebollo Pratt. In addition she has published 30 book chapters, 50+ refereed journals articles, Cochrane reviews, and online publications. In 2012 she was presented with an Award of Merit, by the American Music

Therapy Association, in recognition of service to the field of music therapy. In 2013 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Australian Music Therapy Association and Honorary Life Membership of the World Federation of Music Therapy, the Australian Music Therapy Association, and the Music and Imagery Association of Australia. In 2016 she was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for services as a pioneering practitioner, researcher, author and teacher in music therapy, and services to professional Organisations.

Assoc. Prof. Alison Short

Alison Short, PhD, MA (MT), BMus (MThy), GCULT, DipTh, CertIV, RMT, MT-BC, RGIMT, FAMI, is Associate Professor of Music Therapy/Music and Health at Western Sydney University, Australia. Alison trained in the very first music therapy course in Australia at the University of Melbourne, then completed her Masters in music therapy at New York University and her PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney. With over 43 years of practice as an Australian Registered Music Therapist, and 34 years holding Board Certification, Alison's clinical experience encompasses aged and palliative care, mental health and more, in the context of both medical and community settings. In addition, Alison worked for 10 years as a health services researcher on a range of projects and health applications, mostly within the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). Alison is an internationally recognised music therapy academic demonstrating innovative evidence-based and music-focussed expertise with an extensive publication record and frequent international invitations. Alison's work has been recognised with Honorary Life Membership of both the Australian Music Therapy Association and the Music and Imagery Association of Australia, and she is currently appointed as Regional Representative to the Council of the World Federation of Music Therapy.

References

Gracida, Maclean and Coombes 2025 Music Therapy with Displaced Persons: Trauma, Transformations and Cultural Connections. Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Scrub choir video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1YtT0qLjDA

In episode 103, Crystal Luk-Worrall interviews Carine Ries. Crystal is a new addition to the Music Therapy Conversations team of interviewers - more interviews from her coming soon! (You can also listen to Davina's interview with Crystal, if you haven't already, as this is episode 91.)

Carine completed her undergraduate degree in Music & Psychology at the University of Leeds before moving to London to complete her MA in Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010. Carine has since also qualified as a Music and Imagery therapist and GIM fellow. Carine completed her 200hrs yoga teacher training in 2017 and has presented internationally on the benefits of using a combined approach in therapy. She has experience working with children and adults in a variety of settings and with a range of needs, including mental health, emotional and behavioural difficulties, sensory processing difficulties, and profound and multiple learning disabilities. In her private practice Carine works with children and adults offering music therapy, GIM, yoga, and animal assisted therapy.

They discuss numerous topics, including: developing a diverse practice, supporting a team of music therapists, combining modalities, the importance of supervision, making music therapy accessible in the community, and leading from the heart.

In this episode, Martin Lawes talks with Tim Honig, PhD, MT-BC

This podcast conversation about Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) includes discussion about how the cultural context may affect practice, about the music's role as co-therapist, and about the use of different types of music. The ongoing development of GIM worldwide is also considered where Music and Imagery (MI) methods are becoming increasingly important in Europe.

Tim Honig, PhD, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist and a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. He is Assistant Professor and Director of Music Therapy at Westfield State University in Massachusetts, USA. A practitioner of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), he provides depth-oriented music therapy in private practice and provides supervision for therapists in GIM training with the Appalachian GIM Institute. Tim's music therapy research and clinical practice have focused on music therapy in mental healthcare in acute settings and private practice.

Reference

Yoshihara, N., Acebes de Pablo, A., & Honig, T. J. (2024). Relationships between cultural factors and engaging in Guided Imagery and Music: An exploratory qualitative study. Journal of Music Therapy, 61(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thad022

Episode 101 is Luke's interview with Tina Warnock. This took place online in April 2025. Their conversation had a strong focus on vocal psychotherapy, including Tina's personal process of discovering this powerful therapeutic practice, and her current roles in developing training and research in this area.

Tina Warnock is originally from Hertfordshire in England and has been based in Brighton, East Sussex since her undergraduate studies in Social Psychology in the late 1980s. She grew up playing the piano and in her late teens began singing and songwriting. The personal growth she experienced through singing with others and later vocal training led to a life-long interest in the connection between the voice and the self.

Since qualifying as a music therapist in 2000, Tina gained extensive experience in a wide range of clinical settings including child and adolescent mental health, child development, special education, elderly mental health and learning disabilities. Her current practice includes vocal psychotherapy with people in cancer care, women with a history of trauma and abuse, and private practice with adults.

In 2009 Tina established Belltree Music Therapy in Brighton (www.belltree.org.uk) which is now a thriving music therapy service. Between 2009 and 2013 she served on the BAMT board of trustees and was joint PR officer. Since 2016 she has focussed on developing the Austin Vocal Psychotherapy (AVPT) Distance Training Programme with Dr Diane Austin.

In 2016 Tina invited Diane Austin to the UK to give some introductory workshops in vocal psychotherapy. The interest shown, combined with Tina's passion for the work led to her working intensively with Dr Austin over three 2-year programmes and in 2026 she will take on the role of lead trainer for this programme.

Tina has been affiliated with Roehampton as a visiting lecturer and lecturer on the MA Music Therapy course. She regularly presents at music therapy conferences and has published several articles and book chapters on the voice and the self in music therapy. She is currently undertaking doctoral research at the Cambridge Institute of Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University, UK, investigating the impact of Austin Vocal Psychotherapy training on a music therapist's voice, sense of self and therapeutic practice.

(3) Tina Warnock | LinkedIn

https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/tina-warnock

www.belltree.org.uk

www.austinvocalpsychotherapy.com

The 100th episode is here!

Luke and Davina look back on the podcast - how it started out, where it has come to, what they have learned so far. They also go on conversational detours, considering their own perspectives on this profession, including current discussions about diversity, inclusion and race, along with the nature of music in music therapy, and how individual, as well as multi-faceted, this work is. What were the original intentions for the podcast? Who helped get it started? What's Luke's favourite episode? All will be revealed!

Thanks are also given to all those people who have helped with the podcast, including all the interviewees to date.

More podcasts to come, but this was a moment to look back and reflect.

For those people who have been asking Luke, 'When will you be interviewed?', this is (sort of) an answer to that question.

For anyone interested in getting involved as an interviewer, please contact Luke via email: luke.annesley@uwe.ac.uk

References and links

Annesley, L. (2014). The music therapist in school as outsider. British Journal of Music Therapy, 28(2), 36-43.

Vencatasamy, D. (2023). The importance of being diverse: Exploring the journey from Brexit to Belonging. British Journal of Music Therapy, 37(1), 28-35.

Ethan Hein's podcast episode about 'Stormy Monday', referred to in the conversation:

https://ethanhein.substack.com/p/they-call-it-stormy-monday