Sep 15, 2021
In Episode 54, Davina Wilson talks to Michaela de Cruz.
Michaela qualified in 2019 and is relatively new to music therapy
but is not new to music activism. Over her 20 years as a jazz and
soul performer, musician and songwriter, she has championed and
contributed to causes as varied as racial awareness, gender and
sexual equality and animal rights. As an activist in the music
therapy scene, Michaela was on the panel for the first ever BAMT
racial awareness event, which was a seminal effort for music
therapy in the UK. In this podcast, Michaela speaks with her panel
member Davina about the events which led to her putting her passion
behind the fight for racial equality and equity in the music
therapy space for both therapists and their clients, why she
believes there can be no more excuses for ignorance of racial
issues and discrimination in the community, as well as what she
hopes to see in the future for music therapy training and practice
across the UK.
Michaela works primarily in adult mental health and runs her
own private practice MdC Music Therapy. She will be presenting a
roundtable discussion together with the BAMT racial awareness panel
members at the upcoming European Music Therapy Conference in
2022.
Resource Books:
Turner, D. (2021). Intersections of Privilege and Otherness in
Counselling and Psychotherapy: Mockingbird. Routledge
Keval, N. (2016). Racist States of Mind: Understanding the
Perversion of Curiosity and Concern. Routledge.
Shukla, N. (2017). The Good Immigrant. Unbound.