Lisa Gallagher, MA, MT-BC
Board Chairperson
Board Term: 2006-2010

Lisa Gallagher, MA, MT-BC is clinical and research music therapist at The Cleveland Music School Settlement and The Cleveland Clinic, Music Therapy Coordinator for The Cleveland Clinic, and Music Therapy Practicum Instructor/Supervisor at The Cleveland Music Therapy Consortium based at Baldwin-Wallace College. She is Past President of the Association of Ohio Music Therapists and Treasurer of the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of American Music Therapy Association. In addition to music therapy organizations, Lisa has served in a variety of roles in other organizations and Boards. She is the recipient of the 2007 GLR Scholarly Activity Award as well as recipient of the 2008 Blair L. Sadler International Healing Arts Award.

Jacqueline Birnbaum, MSEd, MA, NRMT, LCAT, MT-BC
Board Term: 2009-2013

Jacqueline Birnbaum, MSEd, MA, NRMT, LCAT, MT-BC, is the Administrative Coordinator and a Senior Therapist at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University. With over 25 years of experience in the field, she has developed music therapy programs at a number of schools in the New York City area in addition to her teaching, supervision, and clinical work at the Center. She has presented on the use of creative music therapy at numerous regional, national, and international conferences, including the World Congress in Brisbane, Australia (2005) and the International Shafallah Forum in Qatar (2008). Birnbaum has served on many professional committees over the years: the New York State Task Force on Occupational Regulation, the Nominating Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) of the American Music Therapy Association, member-at-large of the Executive Board of the MAR, the Executive Board of the New York Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies (NYCCAT), and Chairperson of the Credentialing Committee of the American Association for Music Therapy. She has served CBMT as a member of the Exam Committee for two terms, and as a member and Chairperson (2008) of the last three Practice Analysis Committees. She currently serves as an Assembly Delegate for the MAR.

Katie Bond, MPA, RN-BC, OCN has been appointed to serve as the Public Member on the Certification Board for Music Therapists. As the Public Member, in addition to representing the perspective of the music therapy consumer, some of Bond’s responsibilities will include assisting the seven-member Board with publications, publicity, and marketing efforts. Bond holds a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) degree and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University. She currently is the Clinical Pain Specialist for Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix Arizona. She has presented over 300 seminars on Pain Management and End of Life Care within Banner Health, Arizona and national conferences. She is Board Certified as a pain management nurse and an Oncology Certified Nurse. Katie is the founding president of the Arizona Pain Initiative and past board member of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives (ASPI). She was awarded the American Society of Pain Management Nursing (ASPMN) Advocacy Award in Pain Management in 2006. Katie’s interest in pain management and quality of life issues for cancer patients lead to her attendance of a presentation by Dr. Deforia Lane on the role of the music therapist in cancer treatment. She then returned to her hospital in 1992 and wrote a grant to develop the first program in music therapy for cancer patients. Over the next 10 years, she was awarded over $150,000 to expand the music therapy program in other Banner Health facilities.

Dr. Nancy A. Hadsell, MT-BC, of Denton, TX is Professor and Coordinator of Music Therapy at Texas Woman’s University. She received her Ph.D. from The University of Kansas. Hadsell’s research interests are in music therapy education, music therapy for clients with developmental disabilities, external structure in the music therapy process, functional music skills in the practice of music therapy, and regulatory issues related to the practice of music therapy. Prior to her entering academia, Hadsell was Music Therapist and Clinical Training Director at the DeKalb-Rockdale Psychoeducational Center in Decatur, GA. She previously served the CBMT Board of Directors from 2000-2003, and during that time served as the Board Liaison to the Continuing Education Committee. Since 2003, she has served on the CBMT Legislative Regulatory Affairs Committee, and as one of the CBMT Representatives to the Group of 8 in NY State, reviewing information related to the NY State Creative Arts Therapy license.

Corene P. Hurt-Thaut, MM, NMT, MT-BC

Board Term: 2009-2013

Corene P. Hurt-Thaut, MM, NMT, MT-BC, is an assistant professor of music therapy in the Department of Music Theatre and Dance at Colorado State University. She has been on the teaching faculty of the Robert F. Unkefer Academy for neurologic music therapy since it was founded in 1999, and a research associate at The Center for Biomedical Research in Music since 1997. She worked as a neurologic music therapist at the Center for Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta from 1992-1995 and at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins from 1997-2000. Her clinical experience has included work with stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, traumatic brain injury, multiple schlerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and autism. Hurt-Thaut has served on the CBMT Exam Committee as both a member for 6 years and as chair for 2 years. She also served as chair of the Self Assessment Exam Committee in 2005. She has served as president and vice president of the Midwestern Region of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). She has many publications, including three recent book chapters: Music Therapy in Pediatric Healthcare: Research and Evidence Based Practice (AMTA), An Introduction to Music Therapy (Davis, Gfeller, Thaut, 2008) and The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology (Oxford University Press, 2009).

Diane Snyder Cowan, MA, MT-BC
Liaison to the Continuing Education Committee
Board Term: 2006-2010

Diane Snyder Cowan, MA, MT-BC is currently the Director of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Bereavement Center of Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH, where she oversees bereavement services for hospice and the community and a large expressive therapies team. In 2000, Diane developed the Music Therapy Internship program at New Avenues to Independence, a not-for-profit agency in Cleveland, OH, serving adults with Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. From 1985 –2000, Diane was the Director of the Therapeutic Arts Department at Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. In addition to managerial responsibilities, she was the Clinical Training Director where over 130 music therapy interns completed this program.  While at Saint Luke’s, Diane implemented many innovative holistic music therapy approaches for both the medical/surgical and psychiatric populations. She has been published in Music Therapy Perspectives and wrote the chapter on “Managing Sickle Cell Pain with Music Therapy” in Music Therapy and Pediatric Pain and is currently the editor of About Grief, a newsletter for the bereaved.  Diane’s clinical experience includes medical/surgical, psychiatry, end-of-life, and MRDD. She has a commitment to pain, stress and symptom management. For seven years, Diane has served the Certification Board for Music Therapy (CBMT). She served on the Examination Committee for six years and this past year on the Self-Assessment Examination committee. Diane is also an active board member of the Northeast Ohio Bereavement Council, where she has served a number of roles including vice president and president.

Darcy Walworth, PhD, MT-BC
Public Information Officer
Board Term: 2007-2011

Dr. Darcy Walworth, Program Director of the FSU/IRCC Partnership for Music Therapy program, holds the Bachelor of Music degree, the Master of Music Therapy degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education/Music Therapy degree from the Florida State University College of Music. Prior to collegiate teaching, Dr. Walworth coordinated the music therapy and arts in medicine program at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, served on  the music therapy staff at Big Bend Hospice, and provided volunteer music therapy services for battered women and children at The Refuge House in Tallahassee, FL. She actively researches the effects of music therapy in medical and early childhood settings with emphases in medical procedural support, Autism treatment, and developmental outcomes of premature infants. Dr. Walworth has published in music therapy and nursing journals, contributed chapters to and co-authored music therapy books, in addition to presenting papers at regional, national, and international conferences,

Joy Schneck, MM, MT-BC
Executive Director
Ex-officio Member

Joy Schneck, M.M., MT-BC, of Exton, PA, is the Executive Director of the Certification Board for Music Therapists. Ms. Schneck has served as the Executive Director since 1993, managing the operations of the organization to nationally certify and recertify music therapists. Prior to serving as the Executive Director of CBMT, she worked as a music therapist in the pediatric oncology unit of the Medical College of Virginia. She also served for many years as the Director of Professional Programs for the National Association for Music Therapy. She received her undergraduate degree in music education from Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA, completed an equivalency program in music therapy from Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA and received her master's degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Her music therapy clinical training was completed at Wassaic Developmental Center in Wassaic, NY.