Meet Our Staff

The Rebecca Center employs some of the finest clinicians, researchers and educators in the field. Our staff is made up of fully trained, professionally credentialed music therapists. All therapists possess a minimum of a master's degree in music therapy. Members of our staff have published, performed research, and provided lectures and seminars worldwide.

Clinicians, Researchers, Educators
Dr. Brian Abrams, MT-BC, LPC, FAMI
John A. Carpente, MA, CMT, NRMT
Heejin Chung, M.Ed., MA, KCMT, NRMT
Seung-A Kim, MA., MT-BC
Jill Lucente, MT-BC
Lauren McDonough, MA, NRMT
Alessandro Ricciarelli, MA
Dr. Suzanne Nowikas Sorel, MT-BC, NRMT
Evelyn Selesky, MA, MT-BC

Research Committee
Dr. Kenneth Aigen, MT-BC, NRMT
Dr. Kenneth Bruscia, MT-BC
Dr. Cheryl Dileo, MT-BC
Dr. Clive Robbins, CMT/RMT
Dr. Barbara T. Schmidt

Administrative Staff
Jenn Toti - Office Manager/Volunteer
Abigail Yeh - Assistant Office Manager/Intern
Lena Cutrone - Office Assistant/Fieldwork Student
Richard Martin - Office Assistant/Intern
Martha Vu - Office Assistant/Intern

Clinicians, Researchers, Educators

Dr. Brian Abrams, MT-BC, LPC, FAMI, a board-certified music therapist and licensed professional counselor (Pennsylvania), completed both master's and doctoral studies at Temple University. He served on the faculty of Utah State University from 2001-2004, and has served as Director of Music Therapy at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania since 2004. Dr. Abrams has worked with various clinical populations, and is a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. He has published and presented internationally on a wide range of topics, such as music therapy in cancer care, music psychotherapy, and music therapy research.

John A. Carpente, MA, CMT, NRMT, serves as the Founder and Executive Director of The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy, and is a faculty member at Molloy College. His career spans the breadth of music therapy experience as a clinician, educator, clinical supervisor, performer, and entrepreneur-business person. Mr. Carpente holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Therapy, minoring in Psychology from Molloy College in New York. He received his Master of Arts Degree in Music Therapy from New York University and completed his post-graduate advanced clinical training at The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University where he became only the second guitarist in the world to have completed the Nordoff-Robbins advanced training. He is currently enrolled and is completing a PhD. in music therapy from Temple University in Pennsylvania.
          Mr. Carpente brings more then 10 years of music therapy practice into the session room. He began a music program at Peninsula Hospital for patients with traumatic brain injuries in Rockaway, New York. He has worked extensively with At-Risk Youth at the Margules Music Therapy Program, a nationally recognized program at The Turtle Bay Music School in New York City; and has a wealth of experience working with adults living with HIV/AIDS and substance abuse at The Terrence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center and at Rivington House in New York City. The majority of Mr. Carpente's clinical experience has been devoted to working with children and adolescents with special needs, such as children diagnosed within the autistic spectrum, Down Syndrome, speech and language delays, and neurological impairments He served as a clinician at the Westchester Conservatory of Music, the Rockland Conservatory of Music, private practice and currently is a senior clinician/Executive Director at The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy. He is a Board member of the New York Coalition for Creative Arts Therapists, and serves on the Advisory Board of The Max Foundation and The David Center; organizations dedicated to people with special needs.
          He has made numerous presentations, in-services, and continuing education courses internationally and domestically. Topics of recent presentations include the art of clinical improvisation, clinical case studies, music therapy and autism, understanding "musical goals" as clinical goals, and music therapy business in the nonprofit sector.
          Mr. Carpente, on behalf of The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy, has received numerous grants and awards. In 2005 he received the "Outstanding Contributions to the Discipline of Music Therapy" by the Boyer College of Music at Temple University, and in 2002 was the recipient of a Citation Award issued by Nassau County.
          An entrepreneur and successful business person throughout his career, Mr. Carpente has created several music therapy programs, training sites, and continuing education and institute programs. Some of his creations include the first Guitar Institute for Music Therapists in 2004, the first Music Therapy and AIDS program and training center at Rivington House in 2003, a satellite office site and training center at The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in 2002, the first ever music therapy program at LifeBEAT, The Music Industry Fights Aids in 2000, the first Music Therapy and AIDS program and training center at The Terrence Cardinal Cooke Medical Center in 1999, and The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy in 1999. In addition, he has created several Rebecca Center outreach programs throughout Long Island and New York City, serving nearly 200 clients per week. His accomplishments and clinical work have been featured on NBC News, 98.3 K-Joy FM radio, the New York Newsday, the Molloy Forum publication, Time Out magazine, and The Rockville Centre Herald.
          An accomplished performing musician, Mr. Carpente has toured and recorded extensively throughout the United States, Europe and South America playing a wide variety of musical styles (rock, funk, jazz, blues, and hip-hop) on guitar, piano, bass guitar and percussion. He co-founded and was the Director of the Creative Production department at Target Records, based in New York City.

Heejin Chung, M.Ed., MA, KCMT, NRMT, is a senior music therapist at The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy where she specializes in working with children and adolescents with special needs. She has a wide range of clinical experience, working with clients' with autism, speech and language delays, LDD, ADD, developmental disabilities and neurological impairments. After receiving a Bachelor of Music in Musicology and Music Composition, and Master of Education in Music Therapy from Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea, she graduated from New York University's (NYU) Master's degree program in Music Therapy. In addition, she has completed her level I post-graduate advanced clinical training at The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU, and is currently completing her level II training in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. Before returning to the United States, she worked several years as a music therapist and researcher at The Music Therapy Center at Ewha Women's University in Korea. During this time she lectured and presented domestically and internationally, including at the 7th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Sydney, Australia. In addition she was a collaborator in translating Music Therapy Research(Ed)., edited by Barbara Wheeler.

Seung-A Kim, MA., MT-BC, has been a member of the clinical staff of The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy since 2003, where she leads our innovative program: Music Therapy with the Elderly, working with people living with dementia and Alzheimer's. In addition, she is an adjunct faculty member at Molloy College in the music and music therapy department. Her direct clinical work spans more than 8 years, specializing in dementia and Alzheimer's. As an educator, her current work includes teaching, as well as the supervision and training of music therapy interns and fieldwork students. She has presented her work regionally and nationally and has published several writings including "The Nature of Sound," in the textbook Musical Healing, and is currently co-writing a chapter, "An Overview of Analytical Music Therapy." She is a research team member, whose early work resulted in publication of a journal article on "The Effects of Auditory Perception and Musical Preference on Anxiety in Naïve Human Subjects," in Medical Science Monitor. She received her master's degree in music therapy from New York University, and currently completing her post graduate studies in advanced clinical training in Analytical Music Therapy.

Jill Lucente, MT-BC, is a professionally credentialed, board certified music therapist. She received her Bachelors degree of Science in Music Therapy from Molloy College in Rockville Centre, N.Y. and is currently completing a Masters degree in Music Therapy from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.
          Jill has a broad range of clinical experience. Currently her clinical focus is working with toddlers and young children with special needs, and providing music therapy services as part of IEP (Individual Educational Plan) programming in the school setting.
          In addition, she has significant experience in working with children and teenagers with a wide range of disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and generalized learning difficulties.
          Jill has participated and served as a professional resource in a student research study entitled: "The Effectiveness of a Music Therapy Program with Autistic Children," played a significant role in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for the American Music Therapy Association, and is the Special Project Coordinator for The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy.

Lauren McDonough, MA, NRMT, is a Certified Music Therapist and holds a Master's Degree from New York University. She has been a practicing clinician for nine years and has recently been employed as an adjunct piano professor at Molloy College. Her work in the field of music therapy has been predominantly with special needs children in both school and psychiatric settings. Lauren also completed her post-graduate work in Advanced Clinical Training at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University and has recently become a member of the staff at The Rebecca Center for Music Therapy at Molloy College.

Dr. Suzanne Nowikas Sorel, MT-BC, NRMT, Director of Clinical Services at The Rebecca Center and Assistant Professor of music therapy at Molloy College where she has been teaching for 13 years. Prior to The Rebecca Center, she practiced for 13 years at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University achieving Level II Certification in the Nordoff-Robbins approach. In her 17 years as a music therapist, Suzanne has worked with a variety of populations including children and adults with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, speech and language delays, and psychiatric disorders. In addition to the Rebecca Center and Nordoff-Robbins Center, she has also worked at United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County and the School for Language and Communication Development in Long Island. Suzanne has published seven songs in three different song collections that were originally improvised or composed for music therapy groups and individual clients. She has also contributed a chapter to "Inside Music Therapy: Client Experiences," (Ed.) J. Hibben, 1999. She has lectured and taught numerous times at conferences and workshops both nationally and internationally.

Evelyn Selesky, MA, MT-BC, is the Internship and Fieldwork placement Coordinator at The Rebecca Center and is the Director the of Music Therapy program at Molloy College in Rockville Centre. Evelyn received her BA degree in Speech Pathology & Audiology, minor in music, from Adelphi University. She completed her graduate work at New York University, becoming certified in both music therapy and in special education. Evelyn worked as a music therapist at the Blueberry Day Treatment Center and the School for Language & Communication Development. She also worked as a special education teacher in the East Rockaway Public Schools. Since 1988, Evelyn has been teaching music therapy & training music therapy students at Molloy College. Evelyn is also very active in the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). She is a member of the National Education Committee and serves on several committees promoting & advocating for the field of music therapy.

Research Committee

Dr. Kenneth Aigen, MT-BC, NRMT, obtained both his master's and doctoral degrees in music therapy at New York University. His first position in music therapy was working for the New York City Board of Education developing a music therapy program for autistic and emotionally handicapped children. After working in the public schools for two years, in1985 he went to the Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center (CARC). This out-patient rehabilitation facility created by music therapy pioneer Florence Tyson was devoted to providing creative arts therapies services to help individuals with psychiatric problems maintain their lives in the community. After serving as Clinical Coordinator at CARC for four years, Dr. Aigen was awarded a year-long research grant at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark and relocated to that country. His research work there led to his doctoral dissertation, The Roots of Music Therapy: Towards an Indigenous Research Paradigm, a philosophical analysis and critique of research methodology in music therapy. Dr. Aigen returned to the USA and to CARC in 1990, this time as Administrative Director. In 1991, he came to the Nordoff-Robbins Center at New York University as the Director of Research and in 1998 became Co-director of the Center. In Dr. Aigen's capacity as Director of Research he has produced numerous publications on the Nordoff-Robbins archive, contemporary clinical work, and qualitative research methodology.
          In addition to his clinical and scholarly endeavors, he has been active in the professional sphere. After serving as the Chairman of the School Approval for the American Association for Music Therapy (AAMT) he became President of that organization in 1992. In that capacity he participated in efforts in helping to forge the unification of the AAMT and the NAMT (National Association for Music Therapy) into a single organization, the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) in 1998. In addition, he is the Chairman of the International Scientific Committee of the 9th World Congress of Music Therapy and currently serves on the Executive Board of the AMTA. Last, Dr. Aigen has been actively involved in professional publications having served on the Editorial Board of both Music Therapy and The Arts in Psychotherapy, and currently the Journal of Music Therapy.

Dr. Kenneth Bruscia, MT-BC, holds the BM and MM in piano (University of Cincinnati), BA (equiv.) and MA in Psychology (Duquesne University, New School for Social Research), and the PhD in Music (New York University). He has professional certifications in music therapy, Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), and mandala assessment, and has several years of clinical experience with diverse clientele. Previously on the faculties of Duquesne University and New York University, he came to Temple in 1974 where he founded the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in music therapy, has served as Program Coordinator and member/chair of several college and university committees.
          He has received the Lindback Award for Teaching and the University Research Award. He has served as President of the American Association for Music Therapy, Chair of the National Coalition of Arts Therapies, and an officer on numerous organizational committees, for which he has received three awards for service to the profession. He has served on the editorial boards of two major journals (Music Therapy, Arts in Psychotherapy), and founded the International Newsletter of Music Therapy. Since 1978, he has given 179 lectures and workshops around the world. His books are frequently used as texts, and have been translated into several languages. Publication-wise, he has: authored 2 books, edited 2 books, co-authored 1 book, co-edited 2 books, edited 3 International Newsletters, programmed a series of 10 CDs of classical music for use in therapy, co-authored a curriculum for Optacon Music-Reading by the blind, authored 23 chapters in published books, authored 14 articles published in referred journals, authored 7 articles for conference proceedings.
          His current research interests include phenomenological methods of music analysis; narrative methods of researching client experiences; heuristic methods of studying therapist experiences; projective methods of clinical assessment; the development of research paradigms for music psychotherapy, particularly Guided Imagery and Music; and the development of a theory on the role of music in therapy.

Dr. Cheryl Dileo, MT-BC, received her PhD in Music Education for College Teaching from Louisiana State University and her Bachelor's and Master's in Music Therapy from Loyola University of the South. She is a Board-certified music therapist with several years of experience as a clinician and consultant. She currently coordinates the music therapy program for persons awaiting a heart transplant at Temple University Hospital. She has served as Program Coordinator of Music Therapy and on a number of college and university committees (e.g., Institutional Review Board, Alternative Medicine Committee). She has also founded the music therapy program at the University of Evansville and has served on the music therapy faculty at Loyola University.
          She has recently been named the McAndless Distinguished Scholar and Professor in the Humanities for the 2002-3 academic year at Eastern Michigan University. She has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Music Therapy and Music Therapy: The Journal of the American Association for Music Therapy. She is currently a consulting editor for the International Journal of Arts in Psychotherapy, the International Journal of Arts Medicine, and the Journal of Music Therapy and MusicMedicine (Germany). She currently serves as a grant consultant for the National Institute of Health, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Cancer Institute. She has held a variety of leadership positions in the National Association for Music Therapy, including President, Vice-President, and Council Coordinator. She played a leading role in the development of the NAMT Code of Ethics. She has received the Association's Award of Merit, the highest award given by the Association. She has also served in a variety of leadership positions for the World Federation of Music Therapy, including, President, Past-President, Chair of the Commission on Ethics and Incorporation Officer. She developed the WFMT Guidelines for Ethics and Research. She has given more than 200 lectures and workshops in this country and abroad, having conducted lecture tours in 17 countries on 5 continents. Her book, Ethical thinking in Music Therapy, is the only music therapy text on the topic. Her books have been translated into other languages. Publication-wise, she has authored 1 book, edited 3 books, co-edited 3 books, co-authored 2 books, and authored 35 book chapters for edited volumes).
          Her current research interests include: quantitative analyses and meta-analyses of the effects of music therapy on the longevity, biomedical, biochemical and psychosocial factors of medical and terminally ill patients; the development and testing of new music therapy interventions in medicine, particularly involving songs, entrainment, and improvised music; theory development in medical music therapy from a biopsychosocial perspective; quantitative comparisons of music therapy with other alternative and traditional interventions; and outcomes of various approaches to teaching professional ethics; experiential training in music therapy; spirituality, meaning and the use of narratives in music therapy practice.

Dr. Clive Robbins, CMT/RMT, is a co-originator of Creative Music Therapy, and the Founding Director of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University, where he holds the appointment of Research Scientist. He has worked with developmentally and multiply disabled children for over fifty years.
          From 1954 to 1959 he worked at Sunfield Children's Homes, Worcestershire, England as a Special Class Teacher. He was trained in the Home's educational and arts therapies programs and studied with Herbert Geuter, M.D., Director of Research. In 1959, on the foundation of experience in special education and previous musical studies, he began his collaboration with Paul Nordoff, D.Mus., pioneering the application of improvisational and compositional techniques in music therapy. As cotherapist and group leader, he participated in exploring innovative approaches to individual and group therapy. He composed songs, instrumental activities, games, and musical theatre to meet developmental goals with variously disabled children.
          Throughout his sixteen years of teamwork with Dr. Nordoff, Dr. Robbins was continuously active in the practice, documentation, study, research, and demonstration of creative music therapy with children and adolescents. He worked with children presenting a wide range of disabling conditions: mild to profound developmental disabilities, autism, emotional disturbance, schizophrenia, aphasia, learning disabilities, visual and auditory impairments, physical and multiple handicaps.
          During 1960-62, together with Paul Nordoff he engaged in explorative clinical practice and research at Sunfield Childrens Homes, the University of Pennsylvania, the Devereux Foundation, Devon, Pennsylvania, and the Institute of Logopedics, Wichita, Kansas. This work led to two major concurrent programs engaged in during the years1962-67: The first was at The University of Pennsylvania, Day Care Unit, Department of Child Psychiatry, School of Medicine. This work–encompassing treatment, training, research and publication components was funded by the a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) applied research grant. The second project was conducted in The School District of Philadelphia, Department of Special Education. It was a treatment and demonstration project with developmentally disabled children and adolescents and included in-service training for special class teachers, public demonstrations, and the preparation of instructional materials for teachers and music specialists.
          The Nordoff-Robbins team was situated at various overseas clinical and academic settings during 1967-74. As a Lecturing Fellow of the American Scandinavian Foundation, and in his role in the Nordoff-Robbins team, Clive Robbins traveled and taught extensively and added to his clinical experience in treatment, training, and demonstration projects with children and adolescents in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. He also taught in Australia, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand and the USA. During these years he gave both long- and short-term training courses for music therapists, music educators, musicians and students.
          In 1974 Paul Nordoff's health began to fail; he died in 1977. In 1975 Clive Robbins formed a new team with his wife Carol to continue the development and dissemination of his life's work. Carol Robbins had begun her studies with Nordoff and Robbins in 1966. All the subsequent projects were done in collaboration with Carol Robbins until her death in 1996.
          From 1975-1981 the Robbinses worked at the New York State School for the Deaf at Rome, New York. Federal funds provided the basis for this project which was devoted to developing a music curriculum for the deaf. This project had the emphasis of meeting the needs of students with severe and profound hearing losses. The comprehensive music program that developed for students aged 3 to 18, attracted much attention and served as a demonstration program for innumerable visiting professionals and students. Innovative audiological studies in musical perception by the hearing impaired were made in collaboration with Arthur Boothroyd, Ph.D., then Director of Research and Clinical Services, Clarke School for the Deaf.
          During 1981-1982. Dr. Robbins was at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, as a Meadows Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music Therapy. He established clinical training sites in the Special Education Division of the Dallas Independent School District, and in the Special Care School, Farmers' Branch. He also worked with intellectually disabled men at Marbridge Ranch, Manchaca, Texas. In 1982 he relocated to Australia and established music therapy programs at Warrah Village, and Inala School, Sydney, Australia. These were treatment and demonstration projects with developmentally and multiply disabled children and adults. He also conducted work with severely and profoundly hearing impaired children attending St Gabriel's School for the Deaf, leading musical activities in a family setting with normally hearing siblings and parents. During these years Clive Robbins was closely involved in establishing and developing treatment, training and research centers for the practice of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy in London (1974), Germany (1980), and Australia (1984). In 1989, with Carol Robbins, he established The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University where he has been since that time.
          Through his clinical practice, teaching, supervision, lectures, workshops, writings, and media presentations with Paul Nordoff, 1959-74; Carol Robbins, 1975-96: and subsequently in collaboration with members of his staff, Clive Robbins has become internationally recognized for his teaching of clinical resources, his research into processes of music therapy, and for his commitment to higher standards of clinical practice, creativity and musicianship in music therapy. He continues to travel and teach: in addition to his lectures and workshops in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the USA and the UK, he has taught in Brazil, China, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Spain and Taiwan. He is presently involved in guiding the development of a music therapy treatment and training program in Tokyo.
          Clive Robbins holds honorary doctorates from Combs College of Music, Philadelphia; Universitat Witten/Herdecke, Germany, and the State University of New York. With Paul Nordoff, he co-authored Music Therapy for Handicapped Children, Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, Music Therapy in Special Education, Creative Music Therapy, and many books of musical activities for children. With Carol Robbins, he co-authored Music for the Hearing Impaired and Other Special Groups; Snow White: A Guide to Child Centered Music Theatre, and songs and musical plays for children. Together they also edited Healing Heritage: Paul Nordoff Exploring the Tonal Language of Music. Clive Robbins compiled What a Wonderful Song her Life Sang: an Anthology of Appreciation for Carol Robbins. He is currently revising Creative Music Therapy and preparing instructional case studies on video. He is also Visiting Professor of Music Therapy at Senzoku Gakuen Music College, Kawasaki, Japan and Honorary President of the on campus Music Therapy Institute.

Dr. Barbara T. Schmidt, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Molloy College and a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, does research in language and cognition. Her extensive clinical experience has been predominately with individuals whose communicative deficits have neurological origins.
          Dr. Schmidt received her B.A. is Psychology and her M.S in Speech-Language Pathology from Adelphi University, Garden City New York and her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from The Graduate Centre, City University of New York. Dr. Schmidt is a member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Assoc., Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, International Neuropsychological Society and Academy of Neurological Disorders in the Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her research has examined the relation between language, cognition and reading skill. She examines the cognitive-linguistic mechanisms of skilled reading. Of particular interest, are the cognitive mechanisms that enable compensatory reading strategies in individuals with persistently poor phonological awareness and neurological deficits and the relation between spoken and written language. Dr. Schmidt has presented her work at numerous international conferences, including the International Neuropsychological Society and the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.