Meet Our Program Mentors

Mary, the program manager for Harp for Healing, is certified through our program, IHTP and and VAHT and has been a church musician, private music instructor, hospice volunteer, and piano tuner. She provides therapeutic music, including Vibroacoustic Harp Therapy, to local hospice patients and the residents of two care facilities in north central Montana. She serves on the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians (NSBTM).

Mary plays several instruments including harp, piano, organ, guitar, flute, marimba, and handbells. The Montana Health Care Association honored her as Montana’s “Volunteer of the Year” for 2011.

Healing with Harps on the Hi-Line https://www.havredailynews.com/story/2019/07/04/local/hi-line-living-healing-with-harps-on-the-hi-line/524521.html

Arlis Dowding is a Certified Clinical Musician, and has the honor to play for patients at the Josie Harper Hospice House on behalf of the Omaha Music Chamber Society, for 2 hospital systems, and has played for Reiki/Yoga practitioners. Arlis is also a freelance performer.  She and her husband, Greg hike, swim, and love road trips. They reside in Omaha, Nebraska and have a son who lives in Texas. 

Francesca is a harpist and is certified through our program and IHTP. In her practice she serves palliative care and hospice patients, those suffering from chronic pain, and clients challenged by Alzheimer’s, MS, Cancer and Stroke.  Francesca develops and offers recreational and therapeutic harp care programs supporting women’s personal development.  She is a Neurolinguistic Practitioner and worked in HR for 17 years.

Francesca is a writer and has published two books.  She has a passion for color, and when not working, she is chasing her 4lb. Yorkie, Gracie at her home in Ontario, CN.

Jocelyn Obermeyer, Certified Clinical Musician and Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner brings 13 years of experience to her mentor role. At one point, Jocelyn served 56 facilities per month. Her experience ranges from end of life care with Hospice of the Valley, infusion Centers, Neo-natal Intensive Care units, Movement Disorder clinics, Intensive Care Units, Medical Surgery units, Transplant floors, Cardiac Wings, Native American Indian Facilities, and Domestic Violence centers…to name a few. She can be seen presenting at Somerset, Brain Alliance of Arizona, Spinal Cord Injury Association, and the Afterlife Awareness Conference 2020. She serves on the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians and is the Program Director for Therapeutic Harp Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. Jocelyn loves to share her passion and help others develop their skills and move their passion forward in therapeutic music work. She also plays clarinet, flute, piano, organ, and saxophone.

Jocelyn loves spending time hanging out with her sons and reading a good book!

Judy plays flute, harp, and guitar. She started playing harp a few years ago after her husband survived a stroke that left him sensitive to sound and flute was too shrill. Finding that harp was healing for both of them, she decided to delve into therapeutic music. She is a Certified Clinical Musician and is finding work in skilled nursing facilities, hospice, hospitals, and private patients in NW Washington where she lives.

Judy is also a mediator for intergenerational and cross-cultural relationships and an environmental educator, facilitating healing between people and in our relationship with the natural world.

Laura is a graduate of our program. She has a master’s degree in harp performance and loves teaching and performing, including storytelling with the harp. Her experience in therapeutic settings includes hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices; and she has taught the harp privately, at universities, the Interlochen Arts Camp, and the Jan Pennington Gray Harp Camp. .   

She enjoys reading, calligraphy, and hiking with her husband in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. .  Her website iswww.lauragoldstein.info.

Pat is a graduate of our program and has played the piano for many years. She was busily writing original tunes when she decided to pursue the folk harp.  After seeing the harp’s effects on its listeners, she decided to seek further education on the healing effects of therapeutic music.  Pat currently volunteers at the local hospice, and finds that regardless of the client and/or family background, there are always some notes that seem to fit the current need.

 A retired School Media Specialist, Pat has a passion for research that goes hand-in-hand with finding the “right” tune for the moment. She enjoys reading, gardening, crocheting, and sharing music ideas and tunes with others. She lives with her husband in northeast Florida.

Verlene has her certification through our program. She has been playing her double strung harp at Stanford Hospital, CA, including Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and the Stanford Cancer Clinic since 2003. In addition to harp, she sings, plays guitar, violin, piano, and several other stringed instruments. She teaches private students in her home studio in San Jose, California, and directs and arranges for the multi-level group, The Harpers Hall Ensemble. You can access her web site at www.verlene.com for additional information about her experience, recordings, and published arrangements.

In her time away from her music career, Verlene enjoys hiking and reading, and has recently rediscovered her love for sewing.