About
Meet Adessa
Originally from Central Montana, Adessa is a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) who received her Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston, Adessa provided music therapy services for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, older adults in memory care facilities, inpatient behavioral health, and pediatric medicine. She interned with Dr. Barbara Reuer and was subsequently offered a full-time position at her company, MusicWorx Inc. of San Diego, California. Prior to her move to Nashville, Tennessee, the majority of her clients were in trauma, palliative care, medical, military, memory care, pediatric and mental health settings.
Most recently, Adessa has provided music therapy services for individuals in inpatient psychiatric care and adults in residential, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient mental health treatment.
Adessa enjoys songwriting and arranging and is an accomplished guitarist, violinist, pianist, and vocalist, all of which serve her clinical practice well. She shares her home with her partner, and they recently adopted two kittens.
About Music Therapy
What is Music Therapy?
“Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.” - American Music Therapy Association
But what does that look like in real life? We use music within the context of a therapeutic relationship to address a variety of needs for an individual - and those needs typically aren’t related to the music.
Music therapy can address physical, emotional, cognitive and social goals. A typical session can include a variety of interventions from mindfulness meditations, to songwriting, lyric analysis and active music making. All interventions are modified to meet an individual or group’s needs in the moment based on assessments, treatment planning and ongoing evaluation.
Documented outcomes of music therapy in mental health treatment include:
- Improved self-image/Increased self-esteem
- Decreased anxiety/agitation
- Increased verbalization
- Enhanced interpersonal relationships
- Improved group cohesiveness
- Increased motivation
- Reduced muscle tension
- Successful and safe emotional release