Although music has been used as a form of healing for centuries, music therapy is still considered an emerging healthcare practice. At the Florida State University College of Music, a professor is helping to grow this clinical intervention that addresses everything from anxiety to physical rehabilitation. 

Professor of Music Therapy Lori Gooding is accelerating the industry through research and translational courses. She believes there is a misconception surrounding music therapy that needs to be cleared up.  

“A lot of people don’t recognize that music therapy is a profession you train for, that you have academic and clinical training, that there’s a board certification exam you have to pass and there’s licensure in many states,” Gooding said.  

She also addressed the core difference between the informal therapeutic benefits of listening to a favorite playlist and clinical, evidence-based music therapy, as they are often thought of as one.  

“The difference between that and what we do in music therapy is that we are going in and assessing an individualized need, and we are using music within the context of a therapeutic relationship to help someone restore, maintain or improve their functioning,” Gooding said.  

FSU is nationally recognized for having one of the earliest established leading programs in music therapy with a 100% placement rate among graduates. The program often places its graduates in fields such as medicine, mental health, special education, hospice and older adult services. 

Gooding attributes the program’s success to equipping students with the latest research so they enter the workforce fully prepared. 

“I think one of the things that makes us unique is we are really grounded in research; we’re really integrating what the current evidence is,” Gooding noted. “They’re also learning how to generate new evidence. It’s going to not just keep practice current but actually push practice forward. It’s that combination, I think, that sets us apart.” 

In addition, in partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, FSU offers a NICU-MT certificate program through the College of Music. Gooding explains how this program highlights the physical relief music therapy can offer its patients.  

“We’re watching the monitors for their heart rate, their respiration rate, the oxygen saturation rate, and so on,” Gooding said. “And based on what’s happening, knowing where those levels need to be, and watching what’s happening while we’re doing the music intervention, we actually adjust what we’re doing.”  

Gooding’s practice aligns with FSU Health, the university’s integrated health system that brings together hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of the communities FSU serves. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, music therapy’s countless benefits include lowering blood pressure, improving memory, enhancing social skills, reducing muscle tension and more.  

Music therapy can also be particularly effective for mental health treatments. Gooding noted that for anxious patients, integrating music into preexisting methods of relaxation can minimize their stress levels.  

“A lot of people do relaxation exercises like deep breathing, that kind of thing,” Gooding said. “We take those similar concepts and pair it with music, so that if someone is feeling anxious, or if they’re noticing that their heart rate is elevating, they can use the steady pulse of a piece of music or a music exercise or experience to help their body kind of get in line with that steady pulse, which is going to help literally physiologically slow them down.”  

Music therapy can be particularly effective in treating adolescents struggling with their mental health. In these cases, there are a variety of methods specialists may use, including analyzing lyrics.  

“Where it might be a challenge for someone to engage in just one-on-one talking directly about themselves, we can find a song that has lyrics that are relevant to what that person is going through, and that creates a space that allows people to say, ‘Well, I noticed this in the song, you know what? I do that sometimes too,’” Gooding said.  

The evidence-based practice remains a versatile profession, offering a range of clinical approaches designed to meet patient needs. An essential component of the field lies in its individualized nature, ensuring that every treatment is tailored to support each patient’s specific needs.  

“One person could love heavy metal music and find that relaxing because it’s their favorite kind of music, whereas for another person, that’s going to increase their anxiety,” Gooding said. “We really lean into that patient-preferred piece to try to connect with them.” 

As she trains the next generation of music therapists, Gooding is bolstering an emerging healthcare practice ready to put its patients at ease. One of music therapy’s early pioneers, the FSU College of Music is proving once again that great music has strong healing power. 

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As Suicide Prevention Month brings renewed national attention to mental health, Florida State University Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology Thomas Joiner stands among the nation’s most influential researchers, dedicating his career to understanding why people die by suicide and how communities can help prevent it.

Suicide remains a leading public health challenge in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting 48,824 deaths by suicide in 2024. Each September, organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline use Suicide Prevention Month to raise awareness, reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help before a crisis becomes fatal.

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As Floridians brace for the peak of hurricane season in September, terms like El Niño and long-range forecasts can feel distant and abstract. For Emily Powell, Florida state climatologist at the Florida Climate Center within Florida State University, those forecasts are essential tools for helping communities understand weather risks and make key decisions before disaster strikes.

Powell’s work sits at the intersection of climatology, emergency management and urban planning, three critical areas in a hurricane-prone state like Florida. Her interdisciplinary approach helps small and at-risk communities build practical roadmaps for resilience.

As state climatologist for the State of Florida, Powell turns complex historical weather trends into clear, decision-ready data for policy and planning. The Florida Climate Center provides official weather data, climate research and public outreach for the state of Florida.

“The mission of the Florida Climate Center is to monitor, disseminate and analyze weather and climate data and information to serve the people in the state,” Powell said.

The center’s work includes three main components: data services; research and applications that support weather-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, water resources, emergency management, public health and urban planning; and outreach and education. The center translates information to the public by highlighting climate events, informing media and maintaining an active social media presence.

Serving the public is what first drew Powell to studying weather patterns and continues to drive her research.

“I wanted to take my interest in weather and society and my academic training and apply it to understand how weather and climate affect people and their environment,” Powell said. “For instance, how weather and climate impact people’s lifestyles, public health and safety, a community’s economic solvency, how it affects our food supplies, and how it drives ecosystem change.”

Powell’s expertise comprises the drivers of seasonal hurricane forecasts, including the El Niño/La Niña cycle. Known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, the pattern affects temperature, precipitation, storm tracks and hurricane activity around the world.

According to Powell, the heating and cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean influence atmospheric pressure patterns and the position and strength of the jet stream. That helps shape where storms track and can lead to persistent temperature and precipitation anomalies, including in Florida.

El Niño is drawing heightened attention because 2026 is predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reach record levels, with sea surface temperatures potentially rising nearly 3 degrees Celsius by winter. Powell cautions that increased risk does not guarantee a specific outcome.

“One thing to keep in mind is that a strong or very strong El Niño event does not guarantee we’ll see stronger or bigger impacts from the event,” Powell cautioned. “It does, however, considerably increase the odds, or the likelihood that those expected impacts will occur.”

Powell said Floridians could see the effects most strongly from late fall through winter and into spring. Wetter, cooler than normal weather is expected during colder months, along with an increased risk of severe weather, including tornadoes and more frequent rain, as El Niño favors a more active southern storm track.

Besides providing crucial climate intel, another focus area is community resilience. Powell has worked with Florida Sea Grant and the University of Florida Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences to provide technical assistance and resilience support to low-capacity communities across the state, reinforcing the demand for credible, science-based information.

“We’ve seen demand for weather and climate services go up over the years, and we try to communicate information and contextualize that information, particularly from national and local authorities, to ensure people have the right information and can make sense of that information so they can make well-informed decisions,” Powell said.

“We’ve seen demand for weather and climate services go up over the years, and we try to communicate information and contextualize that information, particularly from national and local authorities, to ensure people have the right information and can make sense of that information so they can make well-informed decisions.”

– Emily Powell, state climatologist for the State of Florida

Powell’s community impact also extends to Florida’s Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, where she serves as the state’s co-coordinator. The grassroots precipitation-measurement network relies on volunteers who take daily measurements in their own backyards.

Powell embraces the citizen science approach because it provides real-time data that can support precipitation forecasts, flash-flood monitoring, extreme storm tracking, drought monitoring and more.

“It’s great to have a network of citizen scientists who are passionate about the weather,” Powell added. “We get to work with people around the state who do this on their free time, and the data that they produce is freely available almost immediately to anyone who wants to look at it.”

Even with NOAA forecasting a below-normal hurricane season, Powell said one storm can still exploit a window of opportunity and cause widespread damage. She encourages the public to prepare early, regardless of the quieter forecast.

“People always need to be aware of the risk and stay prepared, no matter what the overall trend says,” Powell advised.

And while weather conditions change daily, Powell’s mission remains constant: helping Floridians understand the risks ahead of time so that communities can make informed decisions before the next challenge arrives.

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In Florida and across the Caribbean, hurricane season is more than a forecast. It is a reminder that safety, housing and survival are shaped by decisions people make long before a storm arrives.

For Paul Niell, an associate professor in Florida State University’s Department of Art History, those decisions are also questions of history, ecology and cultural knowledge. His research on Indigenous Caribbean architecture points to a timely idea for communities facing stronger storms: Buildings can be designed to work with the environment around them, not apart from it.

“You have to build in such a way that it works with that ecological condition,” Niell said. “And of course, that’s a very complicated problem to work out.”

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At Florida State University, Clinical Professor Rima Nathan is leading a hands-on elder law clinic that trains future lawyers by tackling several crises for low-income senior citizens.

The Claude Pepper Elder Law Clinic is a holistic, interdisciplinary program dedicated to strengthening the well-being and resilience of low-income older adults through legal advocacy and community education. Clinical students handle real cases and work on policy initiatives while helping seniors navigate turbulent times.

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From the robotics lab to island shores, Christian Hubicki bridges two worlds between futuristic professor and fan favorite on one of America’s longest-running reality shows.

Hubicki, part of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty, operates out of the Aero-Propulsion, Mechatronics, and Energy Center at Innovation Park. He runs the Optimal Robotics Lab with a team of students, creating algorithms for robots to navigate complex and real-world environments.

Hubicki’s day-to-day work runs opposite to the relatively nomadic experience of being on “Survivor,” where contestants are in remote locations and must build food and shelter while competing in challenges. He is a two-time contestant on the show who always dreamed of being on the reality competition that first began in 2000.

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As the director of Florida State University’s Cardiovascular & Applied Physiology Laboratory (CAP Lab), Joseph Watso is leading the way on research aimed at supporting better heart health.

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading global cause of death. Watso’s team at the CAP Lab, part of the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, works daily to advance knowledge on the modifiable factors that people can change to reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases.

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Florida State University is known for positively impacting its communities. As director of the College of Nursing’s Institute on Digital Health and Innovation (IDHI), Dr. Lisa Hightow-Weidman conducts research to strengthen FSU’s public health leadership and improve patient care. 

Hightow-Weidman entered the medical research industry as an infectious disease specialist, advancing her work in the early 2000s when the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was becoming more understood through cause, diagnosis and treatment. She centered her research around helping young individuals with HIV lead healthier lives — setting the stage for her breakthrough in the world of digital health. 

“We didn’t necessarily have smartphones. We had cell phones, but they were flip phones back then,” Hightow-Weidman said. “I got into developing computer-delivered interventions because, at the time, it was a way to meet young people where they were.” 

As smartphone technology advanced and the epidemic evolved, Hightow-Weidman’s work also shifted. She expanded her realm of care beyond HIV, addressing health domains that young people struggled with, including mental health, substance use and more. To make the process more seamless, she began investing her time in developing digital health platforms that housed essential patient data and provided interventions. 

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Growing up, Adam Hanley was always interested in the power of the mind. As the grandson of a preacher, he became intrigued by the combination of both spirituality and therapy as a tool for healing.

Hanley, a licensed psychologist and the director of the College of Nursing’s Complementary Health Innovation Lab, embarked on an academic journey that was inspired by the physical pain he felt when an injury ended his basketball career with Helsinki Panterrit.

“That’s when mindfulness practice became more of a central focus for me,” Hanley said about deciding to step away from basketball. “It was a way of dealing with some of the physical discomfort as well as some of the confusion about what comes next.”

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When Madeleine Martin was a child, she staged puppet shows behind a small wooden theater with red curtains. Her brothers gave blunt reviews, but she kept writing and performing anyway.

That persistence and imagination carried her from living room skits to Broadway, television, animation, and now to Florida State University, where she teaches performance in the School of Theatre.

“I fell in love with the premise first, and then doing my own puppet shows,” Martin said. “There’s a quote by C.S. Lewis that says, ‘Reason gets us to truth, but imagination gets you to a meaning.’ My father was a philosophy professor, and I think I’ve always been interested in how we can lead a meaningful life. I find that the artistic creations are one way I have any choice in life.”

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Inside Florida State University’s Department of Education Psychology and Learning Systems, professor Lyndsay Jenkins is filling the void that exists within current bullying interventions.

School districts across the country implement whole school anti-bullying programs, but their lack of research shows an inability to address how adequately victims can be cared for.

Jenkins and her team work daily to fill this gap.

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