Faculty Supervisor
Professional Development Coordinator
Music Therapist
Angela M. Snell, M.S.Ed, MT-BC(she/her) is a school music therapist and educational consultant from Monroe, Michigan. She specializes in music therapy services in least restrictive environments, assessment, and special education law.
Angie is the Professional Development Coordinator, as well as a Faculty Supervisor, for Roman Music Therapy Services in Wakefield, Massachusetts and fills in part-time as a Clinical Supervisor for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She is an experienced change agent with graduate degrees in Educational Leadership and Special Education Administration.
Angie has served in leadership roles at all levels inside and outside of the field of music therapy. In addition to AMTA President, she serves on the Michigan Music Therapist Task Force, Michigan Music Education Association’s Inclusive Instruction Committee, and is Co-Chair for the Great Lakes Region of the AMTA Mentor Program. She is a local, regional, and national presenter and author on related topics.
Faculty Supervisor
Internship Director
Music Therapist
Donna W. Polen, LCAT, MT-BC, based in Rochester, NY, is a clinician, supervisor, author, and teacher. Her clinical work has focused on working with people with developmental disabilities and extends to experience in areas of traumatic brain injury, stroke rehabilitation, Parkinson’s Disease, and terminal illness. In addition to providing direct services to adults with developmental disabilities for over 40 years at the Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities Service Office in Newark, NY, Donna also coordinates the music therapy program and has trained close to 100 music therapy interns through both a national roster internship program and through university affiliated placements.
Donna’s published works include the chapter on “Severe to Profound Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities” in Guidelines for Music Therapy Practice in Developmental Health; lead author of Clinical Training Guide for the Student Music Therapist, Second Edition; and an autobiographical chapter in The Lives of Music Therapists: Profiles in Creativity – Volume 3.
In addition to her work as a Faculty Supervisor at Roman Music Therapy Services, Donna is a clinic supervisor in the Nazareth College Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute and Adjunct Faculty in the SUNY Fredonia master’s program, teaching clinical piano improvisation. She has also supported music therapists seeking Licensure in NYS as Creative Arts Therapists.
As an actively engaged member of the American Music Therapy Association, Donna currently serves as Chair of the NYS Task Force, Chair of the MAR Assembly Delegation, and Co-Chair of the AMTA Commission on the Education and Clinical Training of 21st Century Music Therapists.
Andrea Dalton, MA, MT-BC, is a trainer and consultant with the Center for Trauma Informed Innovation, supporting individuals and organizations in promoting resiliency and developing trauma sensitive culture. She is a certified leadership coach, with the perspective that leadership is within each person, regardless of job title.
Along with her colleagues, Andrea works with school districts, agencies, organizations, and businesses to develop strategies to support the people they serve, as well as those doing the serving, that are grounded in the science of resilience and the practice of compassion.
Prior to joining the Center for Trauma Informed Innovation, Andrea worked for more than a decade as a music therapist in both private and state-run inpatient mental health units, providing services to some of the most vulnerable adults and children in the Kansas City area.
Andrea has an undying fascination with the way the brain works, a critical appreciation for research, a strong commitment to best practices, a creative spirit, and a calling to make the world a better place.
Dr. Deforia Lane served as Associate Director of the Seidman Cancer Center, & Director of Art & Music Therapy at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. With early intentions of pursuing a singing career, she completed her Bachelor Degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and began graduate studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. She attended Cleveland State University for her Master’s Degree and earned her PhD in Music Education/Music Therapy from Case Western Reserve University. She holds board certification as a Music Therapist and is certified by the American Music Therapy Association for Faculty Authorization.
Dr. Lane has designed and implemented music therapy programs for such diverse populations including those with physical and mental disabilities, abused children, geriatric clients, patients with behavioral and psychiatric disorders, adult and pediatric oncology, hospice and palliative care patients. Among the institutions that she has served as consultant and/or presenter are the National Institutes of Health Sound Health Initiative, the National Endowment for the Arts, National Department on Aging, and Sesame Street (Children’s Television Workshop)Ohio Department of Mental Health, Mayo Clinic, Beth Israel Hospital, and Ohio Hospice Organization.
Dr. Lane is a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society for which she composed and recorded the song “We Can Cope”. Public notice of her work extends from recognition in publications such as Reader’s Digest and Coping Magazine to forums such as National Public Radio, Cable News Network, CBS This Morning, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal TV and ABC World News with Peter Jennings. Some of her many awards include the first grant from the American Cancer Society to investigate the “Therapeutic Effects of Music on Oncology Patients”, the Oncology Nursing Society’s Mara Mogensen Flaherty Lectureship Award, and the Cleveland Negro Business & Professional Women Award. In 1994 Dr. Lane received honorary membership into the Oncology Nursing Society, the highest honor they confer.
Dr. Lane is distinguished by her ability to empathize with her patients because of her personal struggle with cancer. She is married to Cleveland architect, Ernest Luther Lane, and they have two sons, Curtis and Martin, both engineers.
Dr. Lane is a frequent national and international speaker, author of Music as Medicine (Zondervan Press), a consultant with hospitals, universities and healthcare organizations, and enjoys mentoring music therapists and those interested in the profession. She is a member of the PNC Banks Grow Up Great Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees at the Cleveland City Mission, and at Cedarville University.
On a personal note, Dr. Lane states she is the queen of thrift shopping, and is still learning to sing her life’s song.
Faculty Supervisor
Faculty Supervisor
Faculty Supervisor
Faculty Supervisor