Today we’d like to introduce you to Haleigh Beaird.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Haleigh Beaird is an ambitious music therapist and owner of Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy with 10 years of clinical experience. Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy was established in 2022 to assist individuals of all ages with disabilities, parents with young children in the community, memory care or assisted living facilities with quality of life care, and surrounding school district’s special education programs.
Haleigh is a Board Certified Music Therapist (#13057) who has a Master of Music Therapy degree from Texas Woman’s University, and a Bachelor’s in Music Therapy from Texas Woman’s University, where she completed her 1,500-hour internship with Texas Health and Human Services at the Denton State Supported Living Center working with residents with intellectual disabilities.
Haleigh spent the first 7 years of practicing music therapy in the Dallas Metroplex. During her time there, she worked primarily in special education and at a hospital for adolescents with eating disorders. Haleigh has been published several times because of her work with these populations and has had the unique opportunity to work with Vance Joy on discussing the impact of current music and its ability to be utilized with youth in developing appropriate coping mechanisms. Also during her work at Frisco ISD, Haleigh’s main goal was to make resources for families and teachers accessible so that any student being served could have the supports they needed in their own unique environment. Her resource became so widely used by staff and families in the district that it was eventually published and displayed as the standard resource list by the special education department during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During Haleigh’s time in Frisco ISD, she provided group services to all centralized special education class types from the Early Childhood School to the 18+ Program. For three years, she was the sole music therapist for the Early Childhood School and facilitated group services to over 1000 students at this campus alone. She also worked with students who had music therapy on their Individual Education Plan (IEP) and designed creative session plans that addressed student’s specific IEP goals. She was able to conduct these sessions through in-person, virtual, and consult support to ensure continuity of services. Haleigh also is highly experienced in the procedures and laws surrounding Annual Review and Dismissal meetings (ARD) and completing IDEA compliant evaluations by using the Special Education Music Therapy Assessment Handbook (SEMTAP).
Haleigh is a single mom to her beautiful rainbow baby, Magnolia. In 2021, after having Magnolia prematurely, Haleigh knew once she was born that it was time to move closer to family. Haleigh graduated from Friendswood High School and attended all 12 years of schooling in the Friendswood ISD system. She knew there was no better area to raise her child and start a practice.
Helpful Harmonies was created with the idea and relationship that Haleigh had with her daughter Magnolia. While in the womb, Haleigh sang “You Are My Sunshine” to Magnolia every day. Together with the significance of this song and Magnolia being Haleigh’s rainbow baby, the logo and the idea of Helpful Harmonies was created. In the logo, you can see a staff with a melody line. This line reads “You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Gray”. It is the intent of this musical phrase of the song paired with the rainbow to show all of Helpful Harmonies clients that there is hope in the therapeutic process and that it is a bridge between where we are and where we are going.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Living in an area that does not have the services that you provide can be both a great thing and a difficult thing. While you may not have much competition, it also means people do not always understand what it is you do. This is common in the music therapy field. When becoming a music therapist, there is a great deal of advocacy that goes into the profession. When working for a company, this means explaining to clients and colleagues about your role in the therapeutic process. However, when owning your own practice, it goes above and beyond that as you now have to advocate to your community or surrounding areas while also trying to market your services to populations that may not fully understand what your role is.
The hardest challenge for us as a practice and field is being represented on the same level as other therapy professions and then being able to market our practice/services for these families.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy?
Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy was created with the intent that inclusion always comes first. For that reason, we are an affirming practice with therapists that believe in equity of services, accessibility of music therapy, and sustainable professional practices. Helpful Harmonies also promotes autonomy for all of their clients, which is the level of support that sets them apart from other practices.
At Helpful Harmonies, we provide superior support to our clients through the entire process. Something that sets us apart from other therapists is our continued commitment to increasing accessibility of services and resources for not only our clients, but for our community. We believe that there is a lack of accessibility for individuals seeking therapy in our area. At Helpful Harmonies, we strive to bridge this gap.
We are a neurodiversity affirming practice and also utilize humanistic approaches in all of our sessions. Our therapists are here to create a welcoming space and build a truly unique connection with each of our clients. We first and foremost base our practices in relational therapy. In order to connect with our clients, we most importantly need strong rapport with each of them to best assist them in the goals and areas of needs their families want for them. This is why we require that all of our clients undergo an individualized evaluation.
We do this to recognize and cultivate the unique potential of each client by being able to view the whole person. Once the relationship is built and an appropriate assessment of all needs are considered, we develop an ambitious plan for each client that is derived from current research and that considers all of the individual’s abilities. Throughout the therapeutic process, we are in constant communication with caregivers and other professionals on their support team to create a cohesive and collaborative environment that will provide the highest level of support for our client.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I would love to be able to continue to grow the practice to hire on other therapists and eventually have more than one location in the Houston area. That way we can continue to advocate for our field and become an integral part of a therapy team for individuals with disabilities in our community.
We would also like to continue to work with community based resources to make services accessible and affordable to the area.
Pricing:
- Individual Therapy or Adapted Lesson – $70 per 30 minute session
- Group Therapy – $35 per 45 minute session
- Facility-Based is also offered and price is dependent on needs and frequency
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.helpfulharmoniesmt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helpfulharmoniesmt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpfulharmoniesmt
