I’m a Music Therapist is written by Brea Murakami, MM, MT-BC. She is a board-certified music therapist and the Director of the music therapy program at Pacific University in Oregon. Professionally, Brea serves as the Treasurer of the Oregon Association for Music Therapy, and as the Western Region representative of the American Music Therapy Association’s Professional Advocacy Committee.

Brea is interested in connecting music science more closely to the clinical practice of music therapy. She covers these topics as the host of Instru(mental), a podcast that reviews music science research and shares practical takeaways for clinical practice and everyday life. 

Education

University of Miami

Master of Music in Music Therapy

Thesis: “Music as a mnemonic device for verbal recall in healthy older adults”

Chapman University, Magna Cum Laude

Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy

Bachelor of Art in Psychology

 

Additional Training

Neurologic Music Therapy Training

Robert K. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy

Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s Disease

National Parkinson Foundation

Full Stack Coding Bootcamp

PDX Code Guild

 

Clinical Experience

Neurorehabilitation

• Communication Disorders, Cognitive Rehabilitation, Parkinson’s Disease

Memory Loss and Dementia

• Alzheimer’s Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Related Dementias

Medical

• Post-surgical, Oncology, Physical Rehabilitation, Orthopedic, High-risk Pregnancy, Staff Wellness

Behavioral Health

• In-patient, Out-patient, Adolescents

 

Publications

Murakami, B. (2021). The Music Therapy and Harm Model (MTHM): Conceptualizing harm within music therapy practice. ECOS, 6(1), 003-003. https://doi.org/10.24215/27186199e003

Lesiuk, T., Bugos, J. A., & Murakami, B. (2018). A rationale for music training to enhance executive functions in Parkinson’s disease: An overview of the problem. Healthcare, 6(2), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6020035

 

Click HERE for links to Brea’s latest talks and presentations.