Finding Your Joy Through the Holidays… Through Music

Join us in holiday spirit for an uplifting Lunch & Learn: Finding Your Joy Through the Holidays …Through Music. We will be joined by Mary Shapiro, therapeutic musician, to learn about music’s power for connection, healing, and transformation. We will share tools and ways to use music to connect socially, improve mood, regulate emotions, and bring joy through the holidays and year-round. This event will include time to tell stories and sing-along (or just listen)–so come prepared to share your favorite music-themed memories, if you wish!

About Mary Shapiro: Mary Shapiro is a performer, songwriter, educator, and founder of Sounds of Hope, a mobile therapeutic music service, based in Marshall, Virginia. The journey with her mother and father through dementia and depression inspired her to serve older adults and their families. She is well-versed in the Music & Memory® program and a trained facilitator for the Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers™ through George Mason University. Mary provides therapeutic music for people with dementia at senior living homes and for those in hospice care. In 2024, she will complete her training with the Music for Healing and Transitions program as a Certified Music Practitioner.

Participants will learn:

1. What is therapeutic music, its uses, and outcomes
2. Strategies for using music as a tool for social connection
3. Ways music can be used to improve mood and regulate emotions during difficult life stages
4. Actions we can take to implement principles of therapeutic music in our day-to-day lives