Our Story
Central Iowa Music Therapy was created by Kelli Rae Powell, MA, MT-BC, LCAT. Kelli, a board certified music therapist, specializes in creating a safe environment where clients feel comfortable almost instantly – Kelli is a vocalist and songwriter and is particularly interested in therapeutic songwriting, therapeutic instrument instruction on the ukulele, and music assisted relaxation (MAR).
Kelli is a graduate of the prestigious music therapy masters program at New York University. During her training, Kelli completed her fieldwork at Bellevue Hospital in New York, NY, with adult psychiatric inpatients and at Heartsong, a creative arts therapy program for children with special needs in Yonkers, NY. Kelli completed her music therapy internship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, specializing in music therapy services for children and adults in palliative care. Kelli earned her license to practice creative arts therapy in New York (LCAT) while working as a music therapist at Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York, NY. In 2015, Kelli developed the first music therapy program at Blank Children’s Hospital (B*H) in Des Moines, IA; in 2018, she developed and implemented B*H’s music therapy internship program, and in January of 2020 she successfully advocated for music therapy services to be provided to adult oncology inpatients at John Stoddard Cancer Center. Kelli left Blank in March of 2020 to focus her energies on the growth of her private practice and her goal of earning her LMHC for the state of Iowa.
Originally from Ankeny, Iowa, Kelli returned to Ankeny with her husband and two children in the summer of 2015. In her free time, Kelli leads an Iowa-based folk band that performs her original music internationally.
