Join us this month at Mindfulness Toronto for an exploration of the integration of music and mindfulness for individual and collective healing.
Dr. Alicia Howard will engage us in an experiential music and mindfulness practice, and share her research and experience integrating multiple modalities like music and mindfulness to improve emotion regulation, cognitive clarity, and quality of life.
Dr. Alicia Howard (PhD), a native of Lawrenceburg, KY, is a psychotherapist who integrates various treatment modalities into her private practice: music therapy, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness. In her practice, Music Wellbeing, Dr. Howard uses Music and Mindfulness to encourage an intimate, mindful engagement with music which permits the listener to relax and to create a safe space for emotional release. Mindful listening has been shown to help focus the mind, reduce stress, and regulate mood (Howard and Schimmack, 2017).
In her doctoral research, Dr. Howard found that music helped patients to improve their mood and provided the tools in which they were then able to learn to manage their pain; helping them to better function in all areas of their lives. Dr. Howard earned her PhD from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. Her research involved a dynamic, well-rounded and proactive focus on Music Medicine as a complementary treatment for managing pain, notably, the chronic pain disorder, Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). This study was the first collaboration between the Faculties of Music and Dentistry, and Mount Sinai Hospital’s Wasser Pain Management Centre. Additionally, Dr. Howard has a Master’s in Music Therapy from Florida State University where she focused on music in counselling and substance abuse. She is also a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. And lastly, Dr. Howard holds certificates from the School of Continuing Studies- University of Toronto in Clinical Hypnosis for Clients and Groups and Foundations of Applied Mindfulness Meditation.