Psychotherapy with Missy Fogarty, LCAT, MT-BC, Certified Gestalt Therapist
About
Missy Fogarty, MT-BC, LCAT
Music Psychotherapist in NYC
I am passionate about helping people feel better and improve their lives through the combined practices of psychotherapy and music therapy, (otherwise known as music psychotherapy). I am a licensed creative arts therapist (LCAT), board-certified music therapist (MT-BC). and a Certified Gestalt Therapist. I received my Masters degree from New York University’s renowned music therapy program as well as training in hospitals, schools, an outpatient mental health clinic and a nursing home. Professionally, I have experience working with adults of all ages seeking to improve their lives as they overcome issues pertaining to anxiety, depression, addiction and everyday stress related to work, family and relationships. I’ve also worked with children with autism and other developmental delays and their families. My own personal journey of healing put me on a path to help others to the point that I wanted to do it professionally. Music therapy was the perfect fit for me since music has been an intrinsic part of my life since childhood and I spent decades working as a professional musician.
Even if you are not a musician, most likely you have some kind of relationship to it. Music is a powerful medium that you can use to express yourself when there are no words. And when there are words, music can bring depth to them and make them more meaningful. Music can put you in touch with your emotional self. Music can excite you when you lack energy or feel depressed, and soothe you when you feel anxious. Music can heal, particularly when you enter a musical and therapeutic relationship with a therapist. And the good news is, you don’t have to be a musician to take this journey, in fact, you don't need to have any musical skills at all to benefit from music therapy. You only have to love music and be willing to explore. And most likely, you'll find out that you're musical, despite what anyone may have told you in the past or any preconception that you may have had about yourself. If music sounds like an appealing part of your therapy process but you're worried we won't talk about things at all, no worries. We'll talk. However you choose, week to week, as your therapist, I would be honored to guide you on your path to creating a healthier, more fulfilled you.
I’ve been on that other side as well – where I knew it was time for me to work on some issues and seek therapy. I worked with a music therapist for years and I got so much for myself personally out of the work, which was deeper and more powerful because I was able to do it both with and in the music and in more traditional ways, such as talk therapy. I continue to work on myself so that I can grow in my journey as a human being, and to be a better therapist to you. My post-graduate training as a psychotherapist without the use of music has taken place at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy. It’s a humanistic approach I use in sessions that works with cultivating awareness and working creatively with what comes up in the moment. It’s a great compliment to music because, like life, music happens in the moment, in relationship with who you are playing it with or listening to it with (in therapy, that person would be me, and it will inform how you relate in the world and with others). The experience of music unfolds, note by note, measure by measure.
Qualifications:
LCAT: Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in the State of New York
License Number: 002436
MT-BC: Board Certified Music Therapist, Certification #13238