Christopher Beach is a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC, 11189) and Licensed Professional Music Therapist in the state of Georgia (MUT000278). He has over 10 years of experience in the field of music therapy, focusing in mental health. Beach completed his bachelor's degree in music, with an emphasis in organ, at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. He continued into higher education at Florida State University, where he completed a Master of Music degree in Music Therapy. The following 6 years, he worked for the state of California in a maximum security, forensic mental health hospital. During this time, he worked as a clinical rehabilitation therapist and supervising rehabilitation therapist. Further, he developed two nationally-recognized internship programs for the Department of State Hospitals system in California. In 2020, Beach returned to Florida State University to pursue his PhD in Music Education, with a focus in Music Therapy. This degree was completed in May 2023. Within this time, Beach was invited to become a fellow for the National Institute for Infant & Child Medical Music Therapy.Over the course of his clinical career, Beach has provided music therapy interventions for a wide variety of clients. He has worked with clients from a diverse range of ages, from premature infants to older adults, as well as all in between. Among these ages, Beach has worked among individuals with a myriad of needs, including depression, anxiety, dementia, psychotic disorders, substance use disorders, autism, and sexually violent predators to name a few. With his background primarily in cogntive behavioral therapy, Beach endorses a trauma-informed care approach to working with his clients as well as his students.Beach has engaged in scholarly research through the publication of numerous research articles. Additionally, he has presented at multiple regional, national, and international conferences. Currently, Beach works as a tele-health creative arts therapist with Charlie Health and is a second-year Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC) where he teaches graduate and undergraduate coursework in music therapy and music education. Bringing a trauma-informed, as well as relational, lens to the students of UMKC, he also has worked over the course of the last year to bring that knowledge, along with services, to the community through community-engaged learning opportunities.