New York has the chance to lead the nation in recognizing a fundamental truth: True healing often starts with a chord or two, a bit of rhythm, and a voice rising to meet a melody. We've seen firsthand through our work together — a partnership between the nonprofit Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and The Joel Foundation — that creative arts therapy has transformed the lives of countless New Yorkers.

We are profoundly moved knowing that children with autism can find their first expressive breakthroughs through drums or song, that older adults with dementia can come back to themselves through familiar melodies, and that trauma survivors can use songwriting to process feelings and reclaim their agency.

One of us is a clinical music therapy practitioner, while the other is married to the iconi

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