Crystal spoke to Sarah Hodkinson in advance of their participation in the Roundtable Keynote discussion , entitled 'Navigating the Music Therapy Landscape: Considering the challenges and opportunities facing the profession in the UK', which will be part of the forthcoming BAMT online conference in November - Music Therapy in a Changing Landscape.

Sarah is a clinical academic, music therapist and EMDR therapist with more than 20 years' experience in paediatric palliative care. She is Head of Psychosocial Services at Shooting Star Children's Hospices, leading a thriving multidisciplinary team of arts therapists and family support workers providing holistic, family-centred care across London and Surrey.

Sarah continues to work clinically alongside her leadership role, giving therapy to children with life-limiting conditions, their siblings and parents, families experiencing bereavement and those living with the impact of traumatic experiences. She designed and leads an award-winning Specialist Bereavement Service and is passionate about addressing inequalities in paediatric palliative care through research, knowledge exchange, co-creation, creativity and systems thinking.

Sarah is a Principal Teaching Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, where her academic work focuses on music in healthcare and education. Her research includes publicly funded projects exploring music and rehabilitation for adults with cochlear implants, and research into inequalities in specialist bereavement care following child death. She has also developed international work combining music therapy and speech and language therapy in Moldova, where Commusicating is now embedded across six regions. Her work is presented nationally and internationally.

Sarah particularly values the opportunity to inhabit both the clinical and academic worlds, where research informs practice and the experiences of children and families shape research and how future generations learn. Music remains an important part of her life: she plays many instruments, most often Celtic harp, guitar, piano and flute, and is Deputy Conductor of a 50-strong vocal ensemble that tours across Europe.

At the heart of Sarah's work is a belief in learning from people with lived experience, creating models of care that are meaningful, compassionate and achieve excellent clinical outcomes.