To Alphabetical Listing
Back to Faculty Home

Karen Goodman
Professor of Music
Music Therapy - Graduate Coordinator
973-655-5268
goodmank@mail.montclair.edu

Karen D. Goodman holds degrees from the City University of New York- Hunter College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as professional credentials in music therapy, creative arts therapy and special education.  Her research-based clinical work includes practice at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center (child psychiatry); Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center (child and adult psychiatry); Child Development Research Center (preventive mental health nursery); Communication Disorders Demonstration Program-MSU (child autism) and Regional Day School at Morris (multiply handicapped children). The results of Prof. Goodman’s qualitative research are reflected in publications and regional, national, and international presentations on musical process in music therapy with schizophrenic patients; development of the MTA-ED, Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Emotionally Disturbed Children (Goodman, 1989); use of Dr. Stanley Greenspan's clinical 'floor time' for autistic children; development of procedures for Individual Education Plan music therapy assessments: techniques in sensory integration for the multiply handicapped and autistic child and the link from theory to practice in the training and education  of music therapists. She has served as editor of Music Therapy: The Journal of the American Association for Music Therapy and was named to the Advisory Board of the Creativity Foundation, founded by the late Dr. Silvano Arieti as well as the Child Development Research Center Board, founded by the late Dr. Judith Kestenberg. Her book, Music Therapy Groupwork with Special Needs Children: The Evolving Process (pub. 2007; Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas ) was acclaimed In journals such as The British Journal of Music Therapy, The Nordic Journal of Music Therapy and The Arts in Psychotherapy and has sold throughout the world. Prof. Goodman sees clients in her private practice and serves as a clinical consultant to numerous school districts and as an editorial consultant to Prentice-Hall and Oxford University publishing companies.

Brian Abrams
Associate Professor
Music Therapy - Undergraduate Coordinator
Contact info: tba

Brian Abrams, Ph.D., MT-BC, LPC, LCAT, FAMI, has been a music therapist since 1995, with clinical experience involving a wide range of populations. He completed undergraduate studies at Vassar College and SUNY New Paltz, and graduate studies at Temple University. He served on the faculty at Utah State University from 2001-2004, and at Immaculata University from 2004-2008. 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. Currently, he is serving as President of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Music Therapy Association (2007-2009).

Dorita Berger
Visiting Specialist
Music Therapy
973-655-3458
dsberger@mags.net

Dorita S. Berger, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, a concert pianist and educator, is a Board Certified Music Therapist. She holds degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and New York University, with additional professional studies at the Juilliard School. She inaugurated and conducted the music therapy program at Giant Steps School for Autistic and Neurologically Impaired children in Connecticut; she serves as music therapist consultant and service provider for special needs institutions and schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Her extensive private practice, The Music Therapy Clinic (CT), serving special needs populations of all ages. She has numerous published articles and books on music therapy and the impact of music on human development. Among her published books are Music Therapy, Sensory Integration and the Autistic Child (2002) and The Music Effect: Music Physiology and Clinical Applications (2006). She is a member of the American Music Therapy Association, Autism Society of America, the New York Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, CT Mental Health Study Group of the APA, and Connecticut Music Therapy Alliance, which she founded. She also continues performing and teaching piano.

Amy Clarkson
Visiting Specialist
Music Therapy
973-655-7212

Amy L. Clarkson, MMT, MT-BC, CP is a board certified music therapist and certified practitioner of psychodrama, sociometry and group psychotherapy. She currently provides music therapy services for children on the autistic spectrum at the new Children's Center of Montclair State University, an inclusive setting for preschoolers, toddlers and infants. Amy also provides music therapy and psychodrama services for children and mothers who have been affected by domestic violence through the PALS (Peace: A Learned Solution) Program of Women's Crisis Services of Hunterdon County. Amy has been a fieldwork supervisor and adjunct faculty member at Montclair State since 1998. She has served as the vice president and president of the New Jersey Association for Music Therapy.

Georgia Smith
Visiting Specialist
Music Therapy
973-713-4397

Georgia M. Smith, MA, MT-BC, ADC is a board certified music therapist, certified activity director and former nursing home administrator. She has been a clinician for more than 25 years and has co-authored an article in Art Psychotherapy Journal on the use of art and music with adult psychiatric patients. She currently provides end-of-life music therapy services for geriatric adults in nursing facilities and client's homes for Hospice of New Jersey.  She also provides music therapy services on the Behavioral Health Unit at Morristown Memorial Hospital in the Atlantic Health System.  Georgia also has a private practice for adults with developmental disabilities in Southern New Jersey. She has been an on-site practicum supervisor in geriatrics and psychiatry for Montclair music therapy students for many years and has been a faculty supervisor and visiting specialist for MSU since 1998.  She has served as Vice President and is currently Newsletter Editor for the New Jersey Association of Music Therapists.

Madeleine Ventre 
Visiting Specialist
Music Therapy
973-655-7212

Madelaine Ventre, M.S., MT-BC, FAMI, is a Board Certified Music Therapist, a Fellow and Primary Trainer of the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI), and an ATMA (Association for Teachers of Mandala Assessment) approved Instructor. She has been a clinician for over 30 years and in private practice in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) since 1981. Ms. Ventre coordinated the Music Therapy program at City University of New York from 1974-6, has been a Visiting Specialist at Montclair State University since 1978 and has been an adjunct faculty member at New York University since 1981, when she instituted the first university training in GIM. She has trained GIM students nationally and internationally. Ms. Ventre has published in professional journals and books and presented at national and international conferences. She has served on both the national and regional executive boards of NAMT, is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic Region of NAMT and has served on national committees in AMI. She is currently the director of the Creative Therapies Institute and the Center for Creative Therapies and the Arts.