{"id":1,"date":"2023-05-23T19:08:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T19:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/?p=1"},"modified":"2023-10-25T16:42:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T16:42:29","slug":"may2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/may2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Majesca, Mary Kate, & Dametria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Stephi Cham | May 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Majesca Wong<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Majesca Wong is a music therapist working with the palliative care team to support patients throughout Houston Methodist Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Majesca started playing the French horn freshman year of high school. Seeing her passion for interpersonal support, her band director introduced her to a music therapist. Majesca shadowed the music therapist for an entire day and recognized the powerful impact of music therapy for individuals with developmental disabilities. \u201cI knew immediately this field was for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After she completed her four-year undergraduate degree in music therapy at California State University, Northridge, and her internship at Music to Grow On in Sacramento, she worked primarily in special education and implemented group music therapy for older adults. \u201cI learned that I loved bedside music therapy,\u201d Majesca says. She went on to work as a hospice music therapist, where she sought to reduce stigma related to palliative and hospice care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years later, Majesca joined CPAM as a palliative care music therapist\u2014fulfilling a dream she had held since she moved to Houston. \u201cI was aware of the level of skill here and how impressive the team is, and I have wanted to be a part of it for a long time.\u201d She plans to continue her advocacy for palliative care with a focus on increasing comfort around end-of-life discussions. Majesca has already built strong connections with staff members and patients throughout the hospital in her time at HMH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m still pinching myself,\u201d Majesca says. \u201cIt is really an honor to be with patients and their families during some of the hardest times in their lives and to do what I can to provide them with a little bit of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mary Kate Becnel<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Mary Kate Becnel is a music therapist working in the bone marrow transplant unit at Houston Methodist Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mary Kate\u2019s love of music began in middle school band, where she played the French horn. She completed her bachelor\u2019s degree in music education at Baylor University but became interested in music therapy after teaching middle school band for a year. \u201cI like using music to connect with people and make their lives easier,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing her master\u2019s degree in music therapy at Sam Houston State University, Mary Kate worked in various places in Texas, including private practice, Woodland Springs Behavioral Health and Shriners Children\u2019s. In March 2023, she joined the CPAM team as a music therapist. \u201cI was drawn to the music therapy team at Houston Methodist and the opportunity to collaborate and work with other music therapists,” she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Kate has drawn upon her experiences supporting children through hospital procedures to support HMH patients undergoing bone marrow biopsies and other procedures at HMH. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI look forward to working as a part of the BMT team to offer our patients opportunities for growth and enjoyment even during a very challenging time in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dametria Morris<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dametria Morris is CPAM\u2019s Operations Project Analyst. Her role includes administrative work such as managing calendars and projects and assisting with communication strategies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dametria first became interested in the field of arts and health while completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in fine arts and serving as president of the Blaffer Art Museum Student Association. In 2020, she began pursuing a master\u2019s degree in arts leadership at the University of Houston. Her courses\u2014some of which were taught by CPAM staff members\u2014focused on management and promotion of arts organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That year, Dametria also worked as a remote intern with CPAM, where she says she was struck by the team\u2019s care and compassion. \u201cThe character of the people who work here made me want to be a better me and be a part of this organization.\u201d She completed a practicum placement, working as an assistant editor for the National Organization for Arts in Health. In May of this year, Dametria completed the graduate program, receiving both her degree and a Certificate of Arts in Health, and joined CPAM as an employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dametria\u2019s position is new to CPAM, and she plans to continue shaping and exploring her role in the coming months. \u201cI am certain thus far that my role is valued by my colleagues, provides opportunities for creativity and gives me a sense of pride and autonomy,\u201d she says. Returning to CPAM fulfilled an important personal goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe opportunity for growth was given to me, and I hope to give that one day to others even in the smallest way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Majesca Wong, Mary Kate and Dametria Morris recently began working at Houston Methodist’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine. Stephi Cham explores their professional journeys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,4,8,9,10,5,6],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-center-for-performing-arts-medicine","tag-cpam","tag-dametria-morris","tag-houston-methodist","tag-houston-methodist-hospital","tag-majesca-wong","tag-mary-kate-becnel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpam.live\/spotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}