Natalie Hawkins is a board-certified music therapist with experience in special education, early childhood, and family consultation. Natalie started her music therapy journey long before she knew what music therapy really was. As a child, she was always writing songs and using music as a way to express herself.

As she grew older, she realized she also had a skill for connecting with others, and had a deep compassion for helping people. She knew she always wanted to do something that combined music and helping others, and that is when she found music therapy.

Natalie officially started her music therapy career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she graduated in 2018. Through her experiences in internships, student practicums, service learning, and her career, Natalie has worked with families with children with special needs for more than 5 years. She had a prominent service learning experience in Galway, Ireland where she lived for six weeks and built music and arts programs for families with children with autism, and this led her to a greater understanding and passion for helping families.

Natalie also served as a music therapy consultant in a public school district and saw first hand how music helped the students she worked with, and how it also helped the staff and teachers better connect and empathize with the students they work with. Many of the teachers that Natalie worked with still use her music resources in their classrooms daily, and see extreme differences in behaviors, mood, and overall learning on the days when music is involved in the classroom.

Natalie also works with groups in the community, and has always found a great joy seeing families connect through music, but more importantly, seeing how music can have a functional use for them in their lives to help with transitioning, social skills, and the bond their children have with their peers and caregivers.

Meaning Through Music has been created from the experiences Natalie has as a music therapist in classrooms, as a consultant for families, and as a private music teacher. She sees the impact music can have on family relationships, and her ultimate mission is to bring families closer together, to improve learning and interactions, and to lead children to feel a deeper sense of belonging and connection to the world through music.