Cassie P., BS, MT-BC: As long as she can remember, Cassie has always loved singing, playing piano and conecting with children and adults. At Biola University she received her B.S. in Music where she studied both classical and contemporary voice.
Since receiving her original bachelor's degree in music, Cassie became even more convinced that music was something she truly loved and connected with; however, at the time, she did not know how she would use her music degree as a career. Many years past her graduation from Biola, she pursued other areas of work such as working as a behavioral interventionist with children on the Autism Spectrum and healthcare administration.
"I knew then that I excelled and had a heart for connection with people with special needs, and that I especially excelled in a more intimate 1:1 setting when it came to honing my skills. I eventually came across the career of Music Therapy, and at that time in my life I had been doing a lot of self discovery and self awareness work. I knew that a huge part of who I am and why I am here on this earth, is to connect with others. I believe I was gifted with qualities that make a good therapist. When music therapy began to make its way in my life, I thought how wonderful it would be to learn how I could marry both my musical gifts, and my personality gifts as a career."
Cassie went on to pursue her certification in Music Therapy at the California State University at Northridge. She learned guitar and ukulele as part of her course work and completed her clinical internship with Hospice of Santa Cruz County. Since then she has also been serving at Coastal Kids in Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties providing music therapy for young people with special needs and various fragile medical conditions.
Before beginning her career as a music therapist, Cassie worked for 3 years as a Behavior Interventionist for clients on the Autism Spectrum. The model for the organizations she worked with was a Behaviorist approach, and goals included increase socialization, increase cognitive awareness, among many others within the ABA Model. While she is grateful for the experience gained working with children with ASD, as she has continued in her music therapy career, her philosophy has a more humanistic approach. While she can assess, identify needs, set goals and objectives, and produce session plans for a client on the Autism Spectrum, her approach is now less behaviorist, and more humanistic.
Cassie lives with her sister in Watsonville and loves the out of doors (and all things nature-oriented.)
Therapy Style
Cassie's Music Therapy approach is a wonderful mixture between Improvisation & Creative Music Therapy as well as a Humanistic Approach. Both of these methodologies carries a strong emphasis on connecting with the strengths of the client and focusing on connection and trust with each client. I prefer "connection over compliance" with my clients in the hopes that music and their individual qualities, special interests, and strengths will produce self-expression, a deeper connection with themselves and others, and overall positive growth in their individual journey.
Instruments
- Voice
- Piano
Languages
- English
Locations
- Koch Lane, SJ
- Baywood, SJ
- Main Office, SJ
- Lawrence Expwy, Svle
Cassie serves primarly as a music therapist. See therapy enrollment protocol and rates.