SONIYA K. BRAR, MA, MT-BC

Board-Certified Music Therapist #10660

Soniya K. Brar, MA, MT-BC is a Board-Certified Music Therapist. She received her M.A. in Music Therapy from New York University. She is primarily a vocalist and is also proficient in guitar and piano. Soniya completed her internship at the Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. There she provided music therapy to individuals in the Oncology, Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Orthopedic, and Surgical Intensive Care units. Soniya has additional clinical experience with individuals with cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cystic fibrosis. Prior to her employment with Harmonic Changes Therapy Services, she worked with individuals and their families in hospice for several years.

Before becoming a music therapist, Soniya taught English as a Second Language, music fundamentals, and jazz history. She has a M.M. in Ethnomusicology from University of Texas at Austin, with a concentration in North Indian classical music (voice, sitar). She is interested in how an individual’s cultural background and values (client and therapist) inform and enrich the client-therapist relationship and music therapy experience. Soniya enjoys using breathwork, vocal improvisation, music drones/soundscapes and music meditation to address anxiety and pain management. She believes in music’s power to nurture individuals towards greater wholeness and to create opportunities for choice, connection, self-expression, and growth.