JENNIFER TOWNSEND

Jennifer Townsend, MMT, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist and healthcare leader whose career has centered on expanding rigorous, human-centered creative arts therapies within complex medical environments. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music therapy from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Music Therapy from Temple University, where her early clinical work with pediatric disorders of consciousness shaped her lifelong interest in neuroscience, ethics, and family-partnered care.

Jennifer currently serves as Manager of Creative Arts Therapies at Houston Methodist’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine, overseeing a multi-site music and art therapy program that spans ICUs, infusion centers, rehabilitation, maternal health, and community outreach. Under her direction, the team has grown to more than twenty clinicians and has become integrated into system-wide quality initiatives, including delirium prevention, falls reduction, and patient experience improvement. She leads the Arts Intersecting Medicine Research Lab, where she collaborates with physicians, nurses, and academic partners to study the outcomes of music and art therapy interventions in medical settings.

Her integrative philosophy is reflected in publications on technology in music therapy, the basic science of music and the brain, and the Music in Healthcare Continuum, a framework adopted for interdisciplinary education and practice. Jennifer has provided years of clinical supervision to students and staff and volunteers at a children’s theater that support community wellbeing. She advocates for evidence-based practice, accountable stewardship of resources, and compassionate access to the arts as a core component of modern medicine.

Education

Master of Music Therapist - Temple University - 2010
Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy Sam Houston State University - 2004
Board Certified Music Therapist- Certification Boar for Music Therapists - 2004