Music Therapy for Pain Management

Having worked in music therapy for almost 20 years, Annette Whitehead-Pleaux currently works with pediatric burn patients at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Boston.  There she provides clinical services that focus on pain management, anxiety management, reduction in trauma symptoms, body image, improving fine and gross motor skills, and quality of life issues.  In addition to her clinical work, Annette has conducted clinical research on the effects of music therapy on pain.  In 2003, she was awarded the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Grant Award for her research on the effects of music therapy on pain and anxiety of pediatric patients undergoing medical procedures.  She has an interest in and has written about using music assisted technology into music therapy practice and multicultural issues.  Prior to working with pediatric burn patients, she worked with children, adults, and geriatric individuals diagnosed with mental illness.  Additionally, she has worked with children in special education classrooms and women and children at a domestic violence program.  She has served the New England Region and AMTA since 1997 and currently serves as the Assistant Speaker of the Assembly of Delegate, national chair of the Standards of Clinical Practice Committee, and a member of the Music Therapy Perspectives editorial board.  In 2003, Annette was named one of Thirty Extraordinary Bostonians by the Boston Event Guide.  She was awarded the 2004 President’s Achievement Awardby the New England Region for her work on the Rhode Island Night Club Fire Project.   She has a passion for knitting and being a mom.