Dena Register Associate Professor of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Advisor
Dena Register, associate professor of music therapy and music education at the University of Kansas, earned the B.M., M.M., and Ph.D. degrees from the Florida State University. Prior to teaching at KU, Register worked as a private practice music therapist in Tallahassee and Tampa, Florida providing services to early intervention programs, students with special education needs, bereaved children and adolescents and battered women and children. She also provided internship supervision and coordinated the music therapy program at Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee, FL. Dr. Register teaches courses in principles of music therapy, research methods in music education and music therapy, philosophy and theory of music therapy and current trends in music therapy. She is also the faculty leader of KU summer study abroad programs for students in music therapy. As a consultant for the Certification Board for Music Therapists, she works with states across the country on obtaining state recognition of music therapy. Her primary research interest includes music therapy in early intervention and literacy skill development. Register is currently a member of the Topeka C.A.R.E.S. (Creating Access to Reading Excellence Success) Early Reading First grant, awarded by the Federal Department of Education to provide music therapy services as part of a comprehensive early literacy program. Additional research areas include work with early childhood educators on incorporating music in their classrooms, as well as student and professional development trends in the field. Dr. Register was awarded a Council for International Exchange of Scholars Fulbright Scholar grant in 2009 in order teach and conduct research at Mahihol University, Thailand. She continues her work there as a consultant for the first music therapy training program in the country. Register is the author of two music for literacy learning resources and has published her research in Music Therapy Perspectives, the Arts in Psychotherapy and the Journal of Music Therapy. She is a regular presenter at regional, national and international conferences.
