UGA music therapy program active at regional conference

The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s music therapy program was well represented at the annual conference of the American Music Therapy Association’s southeastern region (SER-AMTA), held March 31 - April 2 in Macon, Ga.  

The program had 27 students attending the conference at the Marriott Macon City Center, the largest representation of any university in the region.  

Seven of the students participated in the Student Conference, lectures and presentations developed and delivered by students from the participating institutions. Emily Carroll, Hayley Godwin, Bonnie Houpt, Aisling Manison, Haley Sue Long, Kevin Middlebrooks, and Lauren Viljamaa gave a presentation entitled, “The Use of Music Therapy to Decrease Anxiety Level in College Students.”  

The music therapy program also became part of the organization’s governance. Equivalency student Lauren Viljamaa was elected to serve as President-Elect of the SER-AMTA Student Association.

The School of Music’s Dr. Roy Kennedy, music therapy area chair, also gave a conference presentation entitled, “Music Therapy and Stephen Krashen’s Language Learning Hypothesis.” 

AMTA is committed to the advancement of education, training, professional standards, credentials, and research in support of the music therapy profession. The southeastern region is made up of practitioners, educators and students from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.