Biography
Erin Hade Lunde is a board-certified music therapist who works with children and adults with a wide range of ability.
As a music therapist, Erin uses music as a tool to accomplish non-musical goals. Some goal areas she targets are gross and fine motor development and maintenance, attention to task and task management, social development, communication skills, memory improvement and maintenance, relaxation techniques, and quality of life.
At Chaska Music Studios, where Erin provides individual music therapy services, her clientele consist of children, ages five to 18, with a variety of developmental delays; as well as teenagers and adults with developmental delays. Erin assesses the needs of these clients throughout at least one session and sometimes as many as three, and then develops a treatment plan to develop skills such as socialization, cognition, and fine and gross motor movement. She also serves as a music instructor to those clients with particular interest in learning purely musical skills. This she does in an adapted manner, also creating a treatment plan that consists of goals and objectives to measure progress. The goals of her clients’ parents or legal guardians are considered a high priority, and the wellness of the family unit is important in treatment.
Erin travels to the homes of clients as well as seeing clients at the music studio in Chaska. She provides individual music therapy sessions to clients in their homes, as well as seeing clients in groups at sites that are group homes or adult day centers. Recently, Erin concluded a contract in Dundas, Minnesota, where she worked with groups of adults with developmental disabilities. There, she also provided educational workshops to staff members seeking guidance in the music sessions they facilitate for those clients on a daily basis.
In February of 2012, Erin began contracting with Growing With Music, a developmental music program designed especially for toddlers and preschoolers. Erin travels to day cares and preschools, where she provides music instruction to groups of toddlers and preschoolers. She also began contracting with Music Medicine in September of 2012. With Music Medicine, Erin sees individuals and groups of people with developmental disabilities.
Erin earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music With Honors from The University of Iowa, where she studied classical vocal performance. From Iowa City, she moved to Newport, Rhode Island to perform full-time in the Beechwood Theatre Company. She then moved to Portland, Oregon, where she pursued her music therapy education. Erin completed her coursework at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon. In order to accomplish a Bachelor of Music Therapy degree, a candidate must complete 1,040 supervised clinical hours in a nationally approved internship. Erin completed her internship at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, working primarily with hospice patients, hospital inpatients, and clients with Parkinson’s Disease.
Voice is one of Erin’s primary instruments and tools to use in music therapy, though she has played violin since she was a toddler. Erin also has experience playing percussion, and uses some of these instruments in her clinical work. She plays guitar and piano, which are among those instruments music therapists use on a regular basis.
