A Life in Music: An Interview with Rachelle Norman, MA, MT-BC

To kick off the March “Women in Music” series, I’m happy to share my recent interview with Rachelle Norman. Rachelle is a board-certified music therapist in the Kansas City area. She is a music therapist through and through, having both a bachelor’s and Master of Arts in music therapy. She focuses her work on eldercare, and she is an expert on how music can be used to enhance the quality of life of older adults.

As an entrepreneur, she provides direct music therapy services through Soundscape Music Therapy, and as a music program consultant to eldercare organizations through Soundscaping Source.

In our interview, Rachelle and I talked about:

• the role music plays in her approach to music therapy
• her own experiences growing up with music in her life, and how these led to her becoming a music therapist
• how music fits into her life now: as a music therapist, business owner, and mother.

Being in Music

Musical relationship is fundamental to Rachelle’s work. While all music therapists use music in their work, a music therapist’s approach to the work can differ. Rachelle’s approach to music therapy is music-centered, where the music IS the therapy. In the following quote, Rachelle describes her outlook on music therapy, and illustrates ways that people can be together in musical relationship:

I see music AS therapy. So what we’re doing in music. How we’re playing music together. How they’re receiving music from me- or how I’m inviting them into the music as listeners, as dancers, as instrument players, as singers or storytellers. All of that’s where we get the therapeutic outcomes.

Watch the full interview below if you want to see our full interview. And check out Soundscape Music Therapy if you’d like to learn more about Rachelle’s work as a music therapist, or Soundscaping Source to learn about her consultation services.