Introduction

In the second episode of the Music Therapy Approaches podcast series, I share a wonderful conversation I had with the amazing Cara Smith. She is the founder of Umoja Global - a  community music therapy organization that bring music to global communities.  They work specifically in East Africa (namely Kenya and Uganda). She talks about the importance of music therapy in underrepresented communities, for female empowerment, about what music therapy as ALLYSHIP means, talks about cultural humility, and what it means to constantly work at being the best music therapist you can be. 

In the first episode of this series, I spoke with Purvaa Sampath - the first Credentialed Board Certified Music Therapist to be practicing in Bengaluru, India.  I asked her how she got into studying music therapy at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, what it was like to move back to Bengaluru after many years of living  abroad and studying music therapy in an American context. Was it difficult to start from scratch and build her company in her home city? Is music therapy practiced very differently in India as opposed to how it's practiced in the US? Did the Indian population take to music therapy or was the stigma of 'therapy' a difficult obstacle to overcome? How does one have the conversation about music therapy as a profession vs. being confused as a volunteer service or educational service? Purvaa sheds light on some important topics.  In just a little over 3 years, Purvaa has a client base of close to a hundred clients a week. She works with differently abled folk of all ages. She runs her private practice and also provides music therapy services at external facilities. She is passionate about mental health advocacy and education, and is constantly pushing the boundary for what music therapy of the Indian context means. Hope you enjoy the conversation x CORRECTIONS IN PODCAST: Women's Christian College is in Chennai. Mayah's Universe, Purvaa's Music Therapy Practice, started in 2018.

This is a podcast that features a series of conversations I have had with music therapists across the globe who are doing ground-breaking work.  The idea for this podcast happened when many inquisitive minds asked me what 'music therapy' is and how it's practiced. There is no one way, and I couldn't think of a better way to show the diversity in the practice than by speaking with music therapists who are doing unique work and show different ways/styles/approaches to music therapy.