Dr. Debbie Carroll is music therapy professor at the Université du Québec à Montreal where she has been educating and supervising students since 1985. She received her postgraduate diploma in music therapy from the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and worked as a music therapist in Germany (Heidelberg and Mannheim) and Canada (Montreal). An accomplished pianist and clinician with extensive experience in special education and child/adolescent psychiatry, Debbie’s research interests include children’s intuitive musical understandings and the role of an adaptation of Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) in developing the expressive language of children with Down syndrome. She has also developed a guide for teaching clinical improvisation techniques. Debbie presents her work nationally and internationally. Recently, she was awarded a lifetime membership from the Canadian Association for Music Therapy in recognition for her outstanding commitment to the organization and to the field of music therapy. Her text, co-authored with Claire Lefebvre, is called “Clinical Improvisation Techniques in Music Therapy-A Guide for Students, Clinicians, and Educators (Charles C Thomas, publishers). This podcast is also for students of the CSU MU 545 course on improvisation and composition in music therapy practice, so we have cross-posted it here even though it is a little afield from the usual direct research focus.

Music for this podcast is “Improvisation for kalimba” by Serhio Efremis, off the album “Vocalises.”