"Advocating through Education" with Rachael Finnerty

In this episode, Rachael Finnerty joins us to talk about the Music Therapy Academy and advocating through education. Rachael has been recognized as a music therapist since 2001, has served as the president of the Music Therapy Association of Ontario from 2010-2014 and was the recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, for Healthcare in 2015. Rachael graduated from Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge, England) in 2001, with a Master Music Therapy and she began her graduate studies in Psychology, Neuroscience and behaviour in September 2019 with a research focus on the use of music therapy for proactive wellness. Rachael has experience working in both a hospital setting and private practice where she established over 30 music therapy programs in Ontario (across Durham Region, York Region, Niagara, Hamilton and Kitchener) and opened a music therapy studio (in Hamilton ON). Rachael brought 2 music therapy courses to McMaster University in 2010 and currently educates over 3000 students each academic year about music therapy. Her focus began to shift from clinical work to education, mentorship and supervision. To provide further education to the community and healthcare professionals Rachael founded the Music Therapy Academy. We had a beautiful chat with Rachael about this journey, the story behind the academy, and all the great work she is currently doing. Episode Links: Music Therapy Academy Website: https://www.musictherapyacademy.com/ PhD research projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CoNOWY15c -- Subscribe to the Able Voice Podcast, leave us a review and connect with us (⁠@ablevoicepodcast⁠ or⁠ @synergymusictherapy⁠) to share your experiences and takeaways. We release new episodes every other Sunday between the end of January and end of August. AVP Theme Music by: Christopher Mouchette. Follow him on⁠ Soundcloud (Chris Mouchette)⁠. Episode edited by: Justis Krar (⁠@immvproductions⁠) Rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts here:⁠ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/able-voice-podcast/id1505215850⁠ -- The Able Voice Podcast is hosted by certified music therapists Hayley Francis Cann (⁠@mtahayley⁠) and Kimberly Dolan (⁠@mta.kimberly⁠). Get in touch with Hayley and/or Kim by emailing [email protected] or visit⁠ www.synergymusictherapy.com⁠.