Safe in Sound Music Therapy, LLC

Safe in Sound Music Therapy, LLC Providing Music Therapy services to the Lee & Ogle County IL areas.

Kearsti-Rae (K-Rae) Knowles, is a Board-Certified Music Therapist with 10 years of Autism experience, including those with high sensory and emotional/behavioral needs. She also has experience in the application of music in the areas of memory, attention, motor control, emotions, perception, executive function, and language. K-Rae pulls from 10 years knowledge of the IEP process in Illinois, including goal development and implementation, data collection and reporting, 3 year eligibility evaluation/re-evaluation, and interdisciplinary collaboration and treatment. She has co-treated with certified occupational therapists/COTAs, social workers, speech-language pathologists, special educators (LBS1), behavior specialists (BCBA, BCaBA, and RBT), massage therapists (BCLMT), registered nurses (RN), and certified nursing assistants (CNA). With 3+ years of experience working in hospice care, K-Rae knows that the end of a loved one’s life is a trying time. Using research-based strategies, she works to apply music techniques to ease pain, reduce reliance on medications, lessen anxiety/agitation/restlessness, improve socialization, address anticipatory grief, prepare legacy projects, and overall help to create a respectful, calm, and loving environment for a Good Death. K-Rae obtained her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University (Normal, IL), her board certification from the Certification Board for Music Therapists (certification number 11834), and her Masters Degree in Music Therapy from Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI).

When that Miss .the.intern joy hits ❤️😃🎶
11/05/2025

When that Miss .the.intern joy hits ❤️😃🎶

11/05/2025

The disruption of need-based benefits is affecting music professionals nationwide. To help, MusiCares has activated a disaster response, reducing the usual five-year eligibility period for assistance to three years, to support music professionals impacted by these events. ❤️

MusiCares will consider assistance for individuals with documentation including proof of paid work in music for at least 3 years or credits on at least 6 commercially released recordings or singles.

Reach out for support:
💌 help@musicares.org
☎️ 800-687-4227

11/04/2025

We had a hilarious session this evening! While working on sustained and selective attention, a client suggested having the canary stick(s) and Otamaphone “talk to each other.”
Ummmm YEP, let’s do that!
It turned into a beautiful (and hilarious!) exercise in rhythm, patterns, attention, intonation/prosody, reciprocal communication, impulse control… and finding humor in the little things.

11/04/2025
We are now accepting new clients!  Our office is conveniently located in downtown Oregon, with in-home availability depe...
11/03/2025

We are now accepting new clients! Our office is conveniently located in downtown Oregon, with in-home availability depending on your location.

Contact us for more information 🎶

We’re finding our inner superheroes this week in sessions! Who is YOUR favorite superhero?
11/03/2025

We’re finding our inner superheroes this week in sessions!
Who is YOUR favorite superhero?

10/31/2025
10/28/2025
Happy Halloween! We’ll be celebrating ALL week in sessions!
10/27/2025

Happy Halloween! We’ll be celebrating ALL week in sessions!

10/26/2025

Few adults play musical instruments, and even fewer do so in a group, Caroline Mimbs Nyce wrote in 2024. What health benefits might they be giving up? https://theatln.tc/oglkQfzJ

“Kids receive plenty of music education, but as people get older, they fall out of practice. Many stop picking up their instrument,” Nyce wrote. “This is unfortunate, in part because plenty of research shows that adults could benefit from playing music.”

Playing music helps build larger brain networks and new pathways. “Musicians tend to have better attention than nonmusicians,” Nyce continued. “Banging on a drum or tooting a horn can also relieve stress, reduce burnout, and help with anxiety and depression. For older people specifically, research has shown potential cognitive benefits along with a possible decrease in dementia risk.”

Adults may be skipping out in part because music education is associated with childhood and coursework. And after people grow out of music education in their childhood, they tend to think that music is a special talent, Nyce wrote, not something that just anybody can learn.

“Of course, people are busy; they simply may not have the luxury of sitting down to study Bach once a week, much less the money to pay for an instrument or private lessons,” Nyce wrote.

Playing music in groups has additional benefits, such as allowing adults to feel more trusting of and connected to one another, and to the world in general. But while it’s easy to go to a park or gym and pull together a game of pickup basketball, “piecing together people at the same skill level to play a concerto or even just jam in a garage is another matter.”

Nyce herself recently began to play the recorder. “I plan to keep learning,” she writes, “not because it strengthens my neuropathways per se (though I certainly don’t mind that), but because making music, even when it’s silly—perhaps especially when it’s silly—is just a whole lot of fun.” https://theatln.tc/oglkQfzJ

📸: Photo Media / ClassicStock / Getty

Address

300 W. Washington Street , Suite 201
Oregon, IL
61061

Opening Hours

Monday 4:30pm - 7pm
Tuesday 4:30pm - 7pm
Wednesday 4:30pm - 7pm
Thursday 4:30pm - 7pm
Friday 4:30pm - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

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