Meet Our Program Mentors

Mary, the program manager for Harp for Healing, received training in therapeutic music through Harp for Healing CMCP, International Harp Therapy Program, and Vibroacoustic Harp Therapy and has been a church musician, private music instructor, hospice volunteer, and registered piano technician. She provides therapeutic music to local care facilities in north central Montana. She has served on the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians (NSBTM).

As a church musician, Mary plays several instruments, but her main instruments are harp, piano, and organ. The Montana Health Care Association has honored her as a Montana’s “Volunteer of the Year”.

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

Amy Lyons is a CCM Graduate of the Harp for Healing program, certified in November 2019. She served her intern hours in east Texas nursing facilities and at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX. She plays the Hammered Dulcimer, a Masterworks by Russell Cook. You can connect with Amy on Facebook through her profile, or on her Facebook page, Amy's Relax and Unwind Music.

Hannah Geiger, CCM graduated from the Harp for Healing CMCP program in April, 2019. She utilizes the Tenor Recorder primarily along with the Concert and Native American Flutes to facilitate her work as a Therapeutic Musician. Hannah is passionate about entering life’s most difficult moments alongside others through the discipline and art of Therapeutic music, with a particular focus on those in hospice. She has offered this music which “soothes the soul and touches the heart”, in hospital rooms, rehab facilities, dementia units, care facilities and private homes, as well as in a variety of church settings, and grief workshops. Hannah also enjoys the challenge of composing and arranging music. Outside of music, Hannah is an avid reader and lifelong learner. She enjoys baking, gardening, crocheting, hiking and traveling with her husband, and time spent with her grown children and grandchildren.

Judy plays flute, harp, and guitar. She started playing harp ten 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.

Lisa Boggess, IL Lisa, a freelance harpist and pianist in Chicagoland, received her certification through this program in 2013. Since then, she has worked as a Certified Clinical Musician (CCM) at 5 area hospitals and 2 dementia facilities. Lisa also maintains a private teaching studio, directs the harp ensemble Harpe Diem, and performs regularly at local churches. On the side, she enjoys music writing. In 2007, Lisa Boggess won the New Century Harp Competition for her lever harp composition. Lisa Boggess is passionate about the profound effect music has on the patients she serves, as well as in her life. She also loves spending time with her family and is an avid crafter.

Nicole Anderson, MA

NICOLE ANDERSON, Harp Mentor Nicole's musical background in harp, piano, and vocals has led her to performance opportunities all over the US and Europe. A professional musician for nearly 20 years, she has now segued from event music to therapeutic music. For the first few years after receiving her Clinical Musician Certification, Nicole offered therapeutic harp music to healthcare and wellness facilities in her home state of Massachusetts. Her specialties were music for seniors in memory care facilities, assisted living, and hospice. In the wellness world, Nicole accompanies yoga workshops and offers her own harp-guided meditations, utilizing her certifications as a Meditation Teacher and Sound Healer. Nicole attended Boston University where she studied psychology and music, continuing on to receive her Masters in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University. The following year, she attained her Life Coach Certificate in Professional and Relationship/Bereavement Coaching.

Recently, Nicole and her husband began traveling full-time in their RV. While she continues to offer therapeutic music when she returns to Massachusetts, Nicole now conducts most of her work online. She offers therapeutic music videos for stress relief and relaxation, and also founded a continuing education platform called the Healing Musicians Hub. On this platform, Nicole offers online courses, professional therapeutic music coaching, and marketing material design. In addition to operating her businesses and serving as a CMCP mentor, Nicole represents Harp for Healing on the NSBTM and serves as board Treasurer and Web Content Manager.

Visit her websites at harpandwellness.com  |  healingmusicianshub.com

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.

Sandy Pereira is a CCM, graduate of the Harp for Healing Program. She earned her degree in Human Development from the University of Connecticut, with postgraduate studies in early childhood education and gerontology. For a number of years, Sandy served as a Senior Housing Program Manager, a secular chaplain, where she enjoyed bringing therapeutic and cross-generational programs to the interfaith elderly housing community. She plays therapeutic harp bedside for two Yale hospitals, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as for Beacon Hospice of Rhode Island. Sandy has long-standing experience working with students on the autistic spectrum and playing therapeutic harp during infusion treatments for oncology patients. She is a founding member of "Ode" (formerly "The Cellar Gang"), an ensemble that trains musicians and performs for charitable groups in the community. She has also played therapeutic harp for animals, and has raised and trained a beloved certified Service Dog and two therapy horses. You can connect with Sandy either directly or on social media through www.odeharper.com

Tina is a Certified Therapeutic Musician who completed both CMCP (Harp for Healing—2001) and IHTP (International Harp Therapy Program 2022). She continued her studies in CMCP Level 3 VATM to become a certified Vibroacoustic Therapeutic Harp Practitioner in 2024. She started playing the harp in 2001 as a way to deal with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Best thing ever! She shares her therapeutic music with her local hospital and hospice patients and has a private studio. After 30 years of teaching high school business & yearbook, she retired from teaching in 2020 and focuses her time on harp, reading, traveling and grandkids. She also facilitates the book studies and music study groups for Harp for Healing CMCP students and graduates. “I love the sense of community this gives us and the friendships I’ve made.” Tina coordinates and leads online book studies for CMCP students and graduates.

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.