Individual Sessions | Group Sessions | Maya's Spring Music Festival

Guided by music therapist Titia Martin-Nagel, MT-BC, Maya's Music Therapy Fund collaborates with and expands the opportunities at existing programs for people with disabilities. Titia works with participants of Richmond's Disabled People's Recreation Center (DPRC), Community Access Program-Hilltop, CONSENSUS, and the Toolworks program. These programs are located in Richmond, California and serve clients from both Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.

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MMTF July 2007 Newsletter

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Our human connection to music and rhythm provides a unique gateway -- one otherwise unavailable to us. It is a gateway entered during Maya's Music Therapy Fund sessions.

Individual Music Therapy Sessions
Providing one-on-one attention and the opportunity to explore issues in depth, one half-hour at a time, our music therapist helps to increase muscle control and body awareness by combining movement and gestures with music. Clients enhance self-esteem and communication skills while playing musical instruments and singing.

Group Music Therapy Sessions
Participants sing together a variety of folk, spiritual and popular songs. Since many participants cannot routinely form sentences, group singing provides a context for interaction and social engagement. Group sessions provide opportunities for decision making as participants choose songs and music leaders. Both individual and group music therapy sessions are important emotional outlets for clients.

Maya's Spring Music Festival
Group and individual music therapy sessions culminate in the annual Maya's Spring Music Festival. Each year this showcase brings together MMTF participants with professional and amateur musicians from the local community in an exciting day of musical performances. The thrill of being part of the festival and performing for a large audience also increases client self-esteem and confidence.

Titia Martin-Nagel, MT-BC
Titia Martin-Nagel has been the music therapist for Maya’s Music Therapy Fund (MMTF) since its inception in 1989, providing individual and group music therapy and coordinating the annual Maya’s Spring Music Festival. Her expertise and length of tenure have enabled MMTF to offer consistent services of the highest quality since its beginning.

Titia was born and raised in the Netherlands, and graduated there in 1982 with a major in music therapy. Her first job was at a psychiatric hospital for adults in Rotterdam, where she established a music therapy program for the 850-bed facility. She also taught music therapy at the Maastricht Conservatory of Music.

After immigrating to the United States in 1986, Titia transferred her degree and experience into the certifying system recognized by the American Music Therapy Association. She was granted the title of Registered Music Therapist (RMT) in 1986 and became an MT-BC, a Board Certified Music Therapist, in 1995. Titia has been a guest speaker and presenter of workshops on music therapy throughout the years and regularly attends music therapy conferences.

In addition to her work with Maya’s Music Therapy Fund, Titia has worked with a great diversity of clients, including:

• Infants 0-3 years old at the Easter Seal Therapy and Learning Center of San Francisco (1987)
• Adults with schizophrenia at the Cordilleras Mental Health Center in Redwood City (1987-1989)
• Children with physical and developmental disabilities ages 3-10 at the Children's Center for Movement Therapy in San Francisco (1987-1990)
• Severely emotionally disturbed children ages 6-16 at both the Child and Family Treatment Center (1991) and Edgewood Children's Center (1992-1993) in San Francisco
• Students of the Special Day Class at Albany High School (2007).

Titia also teaches private piano lessons to children with and without disabilities. She and her American musician husband have two daughters and a son.

MT-BC abbreviates "Music Therapist-Board Certified." The certifying board explains, "The credential Music Therapist - Board Certified (MT-BC) is granted by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) to identify music therapists who have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to practice music therapy at the current level of the profession. The purpose of board certification in music therapy is to provide an objective national standard that can be used as a measure of professionalism by interested agencies, groups, and individuals."

For more information about the work of Maya's Music Therapy Fund, please email us: info@mayasmusic.org