Stephenie Sofield

Stephenie Sofield, MM, MT-BC (she/her), is Assistant Professor of Music Therapy and Director of the Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy program at Duquesne University. She is a PhD candidate in the Creative Arts Therapies program at Drexel University, where she is currently completing her dissertation titled “Collaborative Explorations of Child-Adult Power Dynamics: A Feminist Arts-Based Research Study.” Her research interests include child liberation, feminist praxis, and arts-based/collaborative methodologies. 

She has been a board-certified music therapist for over 8 years and is an advanced trainee in the Bonny Method of Music and Imagery (BMGIM). While she has worked with individuals in many clinical settings, her primary clinical focus is supporting children and adolescents who have experienced complex trauma resulting from exposure to intimate partner violence or human trafficking. Stephenie engages in educational and clinical practice from a feminist perspective, emphasizing egalitarian relationships, the co-construction of healing and/or learning, and personal responsibility to promote anti-oppressive social and systemic change. She has presented domestically and internationally at conferences regarding such topics as childhood trauma, anti-oppressive and liberatory approaches, and music therapy for chronic pain management. 

Prior to her appointment at Duquesne University, Stephenie served as an adjunct music therapy faculty member at Molloy University and Drexel University. She recently served as the Government Relations Chair and Co-Chair of the Anti-Oppressive Accountability Ad-Hoc Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). She is a recipient of the MAR-AMTA 2023 Research Award, Drexel University’s Global Engagement Funding Award, and the Florence Tyson Grant to Study Music Psychotherapy.

Her musical and performance experiences include a wide variety of chamber, concert, orchestral, choral, jazz, and percussion ensembles across community and university settings. Stephenie spent several years as a marching percussionist within the Drum Corps and Winterguard International competitive circuits, and prior to her career in music therapy, served as a marching percussion educator for over 20 scholastic, collegiate, and independent drumlines throughout the United States.

• M.M., Ohio University
• B.M., University of North Texas

• Complex Trauma
• Child Liberation
• Feminist Praxis
• Arts-Based Research