Meet Your Therapist
Carla Chikhani, M.S., MT-BC, LCAT, is a Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) and a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT) with an Undergraduate degree in Music Composition and Psychology from Connecticut College, and a Master of Science degree in Music Therapy at Molloy College. As a practitioner, she had the opportunity to work with a wide array of clients ranging from children with disabilities to in-patient psychiatric patients to in-home residents at nursing homes. Currently, she focuses on working with adults and teenagers and helping them find their inner voice and balance in their every day lives.
About me:
I come from a multicultural background with parents from Panama and Lebanon. I was born and raised in Manhattan, NY, and speak fluent English, Spanish, and French. My passion for culturalism has led me to travel around the world in order to study and learn more about people from all walks of life. I am a classically trained pianist and composer since I was around 10 years old. I have always felt the power of music. This led me to pursue training in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), combining my love and passion for music with helping others.
I believe that everyone has the answer they are seeking inside themselves; they just may not have the time or the space to be able to explore and find it. Through a guided-supportive music therapeutic approach, I feel I can help provide insight into your inner world and connect you with your true inner self.
Through my own personal experience of verbal therapy and GIM therapy, I first handedly felt the benefit of working through my issues with GIM, and feel I can be a good support and guide through your own therapeutic process in GIM. Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) has allowed me to find new insight into my own personal relationships, whether with my inner self/voice and/or with others. Through my holistic, music and person-centered therapeutic approach, I feel I can help you whether it is through problem solving, self-exploration, growth, physical and/or emotional ailments, or just general wellness.
How I work:
I primarily listen and encourage you to share anything and everything on your mind. I truly believe you have the answer you are looking for within yourself and I am here to support and help you find and connect with your inner voice. If applicable I will share noticeable patterns with you, piecing together aspects of your life and story to help increase your self-awareness. Over time, with the help of the trust-based relationship between you and me, you will come to better understand the root of distressing feelings you have been dealing with for a long time, as you come to better understand yourself and your journey.
I integrate talk therapy with other awareness techniques like breathing exercises and relaxation techniques focusing on the body, mandala art, and music therapy to help you become more aware of how you experience emotions. Sometimes, I use body-oriented techniques to help you physically release stress that has built up in your body over time by helping you become aware of the emotions while connecting with them giving you agency over them.
If necessary, I will offer you concrete advice about tools you should practice and ways you should challenge your thought patterns. I sometimes provide feedback when I find it necessary, and sometimes offer you to complete “tasks” (such as journaling, imaging, and more) between sessions. Together, we can outline your specific goals.
Music Therapy
Music Therapy, defined by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA, 2005), is a clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to reach individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship with a credentialed professional. (http://musictherapy.org)
Music therapy is used to assess, work through, resolve, and grow through therapeutic issues identified by the music therapist and the client. It is meant to rehabilitate, maintain, and improve the lives of individuals with emotional, cognitive, social, spiritual, psychological, and physical needs.
Board Certified Music Therapists (MT-BC) work in diverse settings both group and individual practices, with populations ranging from birth to individuals with developmental disorders, mental health, children and adults, addiction/recovery, physical and psychological disabilities, individuals in palliative care/end-of-life care, and more.
In order to become board-certified, a Music Therapist must hold a bachelor’s or higher degree in music therapy, where they have been trained and have proficiencies in psychological and physiological studies, as well as the therapeutic uses of music. They must pass a national exam and participate in continuing education.
