Jingyuan (Cici) Kong

Area of Expertise:

  • Preschool Children: Physical & Intellectual Disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorder
  • Primary/Intermediate Children: Physical & Intellectual Disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Challenging Behaviour, Trauma
  • Young Adults: Mental Health Disorders
  • Elderly: Dementia
Located in Whāngarei, Northland

About the Therapist:

I was born in China where I started my musical journey when I was four, singing in a children’s choir and learning to play the Pipa (Chinese Lute). Since achieving my Master of Music Therapy from the New Zealand School of Music in 2018, I have worked as a Registered Music Therapist with children with special needs at schools, and adults with dementia and mental health disorders at rest homes and daycare centres. I am passionate about helping people to reach their potential and build connections through positive music-making. In September 2020, I joined Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, supporting the well-being and growth of children and young people throughout Whangārei.

I particularly enjoy working with children, I feel like I myself receive a kind of therapy from experiencing their kindness, sincerity and generosity. I also greatly benefit from the experience of working with older persons. My practice is person-centred and strengths-based, I love the positivity when people and music come together.

I love the positivity when people and music come together

Langlois Hunt, E. (2020). Developing a sense of belonging: A case study on the use of peer inclusion to support a child with selective mutism. New Zealand Journal of Music Therapy 18, 141-158
Hunt, E. J. (2019). What strategies did I use, as a music therapy student, to promote child-led cooperative play in an inclusive education setting? (Unpublished thesis). Victoria University of Wellington. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/8246

Collaborative Article: Shaw, C. et al. (2022). Lived Experience Perspectives on Ableism Within and Beyond Music Therapists’ Professional Identities, Music Therapy Perspectives 40(2), 143–151. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miac001
Collaborative Article: Talmage, A. et al. (2020). Music Therapy in a time of pandemic: Experiences of musicking, telehealth, and resource-oriented practice during COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Music Therapy 18, 7-66

NZ Registered Music Therapist Master of Music Therapy, NZSM, Victoria University of Wellington, 2019 Certificate in Teaching, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), UK, 2005 PhD in Theology, University of Birmingham, UK, 2000 Certificate in Counselling Skills, Counselling and Psychotherapy Awarding Body (CPCAB), UK, 1999 BA (Hons) in Theology, University of Birmingham, UK, 1995