ABOUT SHAY (SHE/HER)

Shanay (Shay) Johnson received her music therapy master's degree from NYU and completed her clinical training at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Westminster Choir College where she studied voice, and she also completed coursework at Trinity Lutheran Seminary where she pursued theological studies and church music. During her studies she came to discover that music and the arts were giving her and those around her something more than just enjoyable experiences. Notably, she observed the creative arts enable people to feel deeply, to find greater connection to one another, and even be inspired to come to new conclusions about themselves, others, and the world around them. As a result, this unique yet universally experienced medium became the foundation of her practice.

Shanay is a trauma-informed professional, incorporating a combination of music therapy, mindfulness, somatic awareness, and talk therapy techniques in her practice. With over a decade of clinical experience, she has worked with a wide range of individuals treating anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma, and issues related to race/gender identity. She also has extensive experience walking patients through the myriad of challenges associated with severe and terminal illnesses. Her goal is to help identify barriers to a higher quality of life as the individual understands it, cultivate compassion in the process, and discover one's own empowered inner wisdom along the way. 

Shanay believes strongly in the creative process as a means toward gaining deeper insight and making meaningful, integrated connections with self and others.