Meet Our Clinicians
Gabriela S. Asch-Ortiz, MS, LCAT, MT-BC (she, her), is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Ph.D. candidate in Music Therapy at Temple University. Gabriela's broad clinical background has contributed to her cultural-relational lens of music therapy practice and pedagogy. Gabriela commits to pursuing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the professions of music therapy and health care, grounded in her personal experiences. In doing so, she works to recognize and challenge structures of oppression that stand in the way of stakeholders. In addition to her clinical experience, Gabriela has co-authored a peer-reviewed journal article and chapter in Portraits of Everyday Practice. Currently, she serves on the editorial board of Music Therapy Perspectives. Her current doctoral research aims to broaden understandings of therapeutic relationships experienced by Latinx individuals and their music therapists in the health care setting. Using autoethnography, Gabriela will connect her own interrelated autobiographical and personal experiences to the study's cultural, social, and political articulations. Gabriela presents widely on relational music therapy, ecological perspectives, cultural reflexivity, and anti-oppressive practices.
Susanne M. Bifano, MPS, LCAT, ATR-BC, MSEd (she, her), is a New York State Licensed Creative Arts Therapist/Psychotherapist and Board-Certified Art Therapist. Susanne continues to learn alongside the people she works with and strongly believes in co-creating the therapy experience. In addition, Susanne provides groups for healthcare staff targeting burnout, compassion fatigue, moral distress, and trauma exposure response and has presented globally on this topic. Susanne continues to learn about the efficacy of art therapy for painful conditions, integrative therapy techniques for healthcare workers, and new approaches to empowering individuals during their hospitalization. Susanne is committed to co-creating a social justice approach to wellness for staff and the surrounding communities.