Natalie Wlodarczyk, Ph.D., MT-BC, earned a Bachelor of Music Education at Stetson University (2001), a Master of Music in Music Therapy (2003), and Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy (2010) from Florida State University. Dr. Wlodarczyk is Associate Professor and Director of Music Therapy at Drury University where she has taught since 2010. She is a board-certified music therapist and active clinician with expertise in the areas of hospice, grief and loss, intergenerational programming, and mental health settings. Dr. Wlodarczyk is certified in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) music therapy for premature infants, provides services in the NICU at Cox Medical Center South in Springfield, MO, and also lends her background in end-of-life care to the National Institute for Infant & Child Medical Music Therapy to train music therapists in techniques and interventions to support families when their infant is not expected to survive. She is the founder and director of the Drury Intergenerational Rock Band, pairing college students with older adult members of the community to rehearse and perform a program of popular music while improving cross-age attitudes and promoting positive views of aging. Dr. Wlodarczyk is a regular presenter at both national and regional conferences on a variety of topics, has published research articles in the Journal of Music Therapy and Progress in Palliative Care, and is co-author of the text Music Therapy and Geriatric Populations: A Handbook for Practicing Music Therapists and Healthcare Professionals. Dr. Wlodarczyk currently serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Music Therapy Perspectives and serves on the Board of Directors for the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT).
Wlodarczyk, N. (2018). “It’s my time”: Older adults’ motivations for joining an intergenerational rock band. Research Poster, International Society for Music Education World Conference, Music Therapy Symposium. Salzburg, Austria.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2014). Songwriting as emotional expression. In Thompson, B. & Neimeyer, R. A. (Eds.), Grief and the healing arts: Practices for the creation of meaning. Routledge.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2014). Music therapy for end-of-life care in the hospital. In Gooding, L. (Ed.), Medical music therapy: Building a comprehensive program. Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2013). The effect of a group music intervention for grief resolution on disenfranchised grief of hospice workers. Progress in Palliative Care, 21(2), 97 – 106.
Belgrave, M., Darrow, A. A., Walworth, D., & Wlodarczyk, N. (2011). Music therapy and geriatric populations: A handbook for practicing music therapists and healthcare professionals. Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2010). The effect of audio and video modeling on beginning guitar students’ ability to accurately sing and accompany a familiar melody on guitar by ear. Journal of Music Therapy, 47(2), 180 – 189.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2009). The use of music and poetry in life review with hospice patients. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 22(3), 133 – 139.
Wlodarczyk, N. (2007). The effect of music therapy on the spirituality of persons in an in-patient hospice unit as measured by self-report. Journal of Music Therapy, 44(2), 113 – 122.
