Loyola’s music therapy program welcomed two new faculty members this year: Natasha Thomas and Kathleen Murphy. Thomas and Murphy both said Loyola’s social justice efforts attracted them to the university’s program.

Thomas said the reason she chose to come to Loyola was because she loved the social justice element of Loyola’s music therapy program, with students going out into the city to help patients. Murphy seconded that sentiment, saying that the Ignatius and Jesuit teaching philosophy is important to her.

“There’s always nerves entering a new position, but in this case the excitement definitely outweighs [them],” Thomas said.

Thomas assumed the role of clinical coordinator of music therapy and now coordinates the clinical field work Loyola students do in the New Orleans community. Murphy, coordinator and associate professor, arranges undergraduate and graduate degrees in music therapy. She ensures all competencies required for the music board certification exam are covered in the school’s curriculum and makes curriculum changes to adapt to new research.

Murphy came to Loyola from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, and hails from Massachusetts. Thomas is originally from North Dakota, and she worked at the University of North Dakota prior to transferring to Loyola.

Thomas said witnessing an autistic family member benefit from music therapy sparked her interest in the field.

“I have a cousin on the autism spectrum, and I’ve always been interested in using music in a helping capacity, but I never knew it was a career until my cousin’s mother was looking for services to get him to speak and to engage with people, and music therapy worked for him like nothing else,” Thomas said.

Murphy said music therapy as a discipline has only been around since 1950, and many people aren’t familiar with it.

“Music can touch people and motivate people in ways that other therapies can’t,” Murphy said.

She shared a story of working in hospice care and playing for a woman very close to death who was touched by the song “Amazing Grace” when Murphy played it for her.

“I played some guitar chords, started to hum in time with the woman’s breathing, started to sing and invited the husband to join me, and she opened her eyes, reached out her hand and said ‘I love you’ to him,” Murphy said. “No other profession can do that. Everyone who could benefit from music therapy deserves to have a qualified music therapist working for them; that’s why I advocate for this profession.”

Thomas also feels music is a way of accessing and connecting with people when no other avenues are available.

“I was working in special education prior to taking the job at University of North Dakota, and there were so many times I would go into a client’s home or a classroom and have someone tell me ‘Today is not a good day for therapy,’ and then I would say ‘Let me try,'” Thomas said. “So often, music therapy is the only thing that can reach someone in that position.”