We recently connected with Carrie Friddell and have shared our conversation below.

Carrie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

When I was new to the field of music therapy and participating in my practicum experiences, I was assigned to the local hospice to be with people under hospice care. The hospice supervisor often went with me to see various client from week to week and she would also sing along with the clients as warranted for music therapy end of life care. One particular older women in her 80s was living in a nursing care facility. When I first came into the room for the very first session, she was lying in bed with her nightgown on. She talked some, but did not open up right away. I asked her about various songs she liked and she remembered her mother used to sing the country songs made famous by the Carter Family back in the 1930’s when she was a child. The next week, she enjoyed singing some of the Carter Family songs, like “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, and “The Wildwood Flower.” Over time, she asked for other country songs to sing, such as Dolly Parton’s, “Coat of Many Colors”. She had never married and had spent her life living on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, so she had seen many changes to the area in her lifetime. She also enjoyed hymns, such as “I’ll Fly Away.” The remarkable change was that after the second session, each week after when I came to see her, she was dressed in her day clothes and was sitting on her made up bed to see me. She began to look forward to the music therapy session and to remember through the songs her life as a review. Eventually, she did decline and my time with her did come to an end. She had reached her goal of reminiscing, improving her mood, and lifting feelings of depression. This time in music therapy provided her great comfort at the end of her life. Now, I work with many older adults through stroke rehabilitation, Parkinson’s Disease, and memory care, I have built on this original experience to offer music therapy to all ages and stages helping them to reach their personal goals.

Carrie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Nationally Board Certified Music Therapist and an Affiliate Neurological Music Therapist. I earned my collage education in music through Trevecca University in Nashville, TN and then for music therapy at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN. I have been board certified for 16 years and have run my own private practice and contracting business.

I got into the Music Therapy profession because I have a love of music and have seen how transformative music therapy can be for individuals of all ages, stages of life, and diagnosis. I went into business for myself because there was a need in Middle Tennessee at the time for more individualized private work among children diagnosed with various special needs. I have since expanded my work to contract with groups for adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities and elder care such as with people living with Parkinson’s Disease, Aging in Place, and Memory Care. Currently, my work with people with Parkinson’s Disease is unique to the Middle Tennessee area as I run three Therapeutic Singing groups for the Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s.

While I am proud that the practice of music therapy has grown in the Middle Tennessee area, my brand of offerings are unique through the work with the Parkinson’s community, older adult care, and early childhood development.

People with Parkinson’s Disease often experience vocal problems, including hoarseness, vocal fry, and the softening of the voice which makes it hard for people to hear them. Vocal singing techniques such as establishing a breathing practice, vocal warm-ups, chants, laughter, and singing helps support and strengthen the muscles in the body which support speech. Neurologic Music Therapy techniques help support the work of better brain function along with rhythmic entrainment in the body.

I also continue to see children, youth and young adults using various techniques for them to engage and interact within the music to create a positive frame of mind to motivate learning and build self worth. For young children 6 and under offer Music Together Within Therapy, a curriculum of songs which offers play centered music for children to grow and learn at their own pace both physically and in cognition.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before the pandemic in 2019, I diversified my business with music therapy services, early childhood music classes and private piano lessons. I also was contracting with several groups of different ages and diagnosis. I was very busy trying to keep many branches of my business afloat. In February 2020, I lost one of my contracts which left many families without being served. Then in March of 2020 everything shut down and I was unsure how to proceed. My business, like most of the world, went online for a time and was contingent on the ones who had access to computers and cameras to continue working with me. Overtime, my piano students dropped off, then many families with children could not keep up with teletherapy appointments, yet, the Peterson Voices for Parkinson’s group remained active meeting once a week to sing through ZOOM. I realized in 2021, I was moving towards working more with adults in midlife to end of life, so I pivoted my business to music therapy services only for all ages, but focused on growing the older adult community and music therapy offerings for them. Now, I hold three offerings for people with Parkinson’s, two assisted care and memory care groups, and two groups for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I take on private clients through both third party referral or self referral for individual music therapy services. My focus is all music therapy now and I’ve been able to increase my offerings through this lens of work.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would absolutely choose music therapy as a profession! When I was 18 years old an starting out as a music major, I enjoyed performing and singing in choirs, I learned good vocal and piano technique and music directing, but couldn’t quite find my niche. I also explored music education and started my music career as a piano teacher. As much as I enjoyed all of this for myself, I had that knowing of there was something more for me to do in music. When I discovered music therapy and change I saw in people, when it came to mood and motivation, I found myself in the health care and helping profession I was looking for. My only regret is not finding it when I first went to college, then I would have more years under my belt of experience. However, 16 years after earning my board certification, I have not looked back. I look forward to the years ahead of me working with people through music therapy best practices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.inharmonymusicmidtn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inharmonymusicmtn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Inharmonymusicmidtn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-friddell-mt-bc-nmt-0b014350/

Image Credits
Donna Michael