Creative Arts Therapy Zone

Association for Music Therapy Singapore (AMTS) Booth

Dates
15 – 17 August 2025

Time
1000 – 1700

Venue
Singapore EXPO, APEX Gallery, Exhibition Hall

Introduction
The Association for Music Therapy Singapore (AMTS) is the sole professional body representing the music therapy profession in Singapore. AMTS is a member of both the World Federation of Music Therapy and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). Our vision is for everyone in Singapore to have access to quality music therapy services. Our mission is to lead national conversations and initiatives that advance the music therapy profession, services, and education through advocacy, professional development, and the governance of ethical practice standards. All professional AMTS members are credentialed music therapists who have completed an approved music therapy degree programme and are registered with a recognised credentialing or registration board.

Medical Humanities Exhibition – VESSELS

Dates

15 – 17 August 2025

Time

1000 – 1700

Venue

Singapore EXPO, APEX Gallery, Exhibition Hall

Introduction

Narrative Medicine Through Local Eyes: Exploring Singaporean Healthcare Narratives through staff-created Artefact and Story

This narrative medicine encounter invites participants to engage in close reading—not of traditional texts, but of artefacts created by healthcare workers in Singapore. These works emerged from the “VESSELS” initiative – a meaningful art therapy intervention featuring workshops and an exhibition for healthcare professionals in the Department of Neonatology at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore.

Supported by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Medical Humanities Institute, this therapeutic arts-based project fostered personal growth and team cohesion among department staff.

Through creating with clay while engaging with their lived experiences, participants explored the complexities of healing, resilience, self-identity, and human connection.

Viewers are invited to explore these visual artefacts and accompanying narratives as “texts” for close reading, reflection, and response—hallmarks of the Narrative Medicine approach. This encounter departs from Western medical literature to foreground culturally grounded, emotionally charged expressions from our own healthcare landscape.

Through guided prompts and self-paced reflection, viewers are invited to witness, interpret, and respond creatively. This is an opportunity not only to honour the stories of local clinicians, but also to experience the power of narrative medicine as a tool for meaning-making, empathy, and healing.

Music Therapy Showcase

Title
Sounds of ICU Blues: Music Therapists Harmonising Care

Date
15 August 2025

Time
1500 – 1545

Venue
Singapore EXPO, APEX Gallery, Exhibition Hall

Introduction
Experience the transformative role of music therapy in intensive care through powerful patient stories and music experientials. Encounter a child who had to bravely lay still during weeks of ECMO treatment, a cardiac patient’s expression of creativity through songwriting, and a family’s musical tribute during their loved one’s challenging post-ICU journey towards end of life. The session will weave an interactive blues jam where participants may share their ICU stories. In this way, witness how hospitalisation experiences transform into meaningful narratives for all involved.

Presenters

Dr Melanie Kwan

Dr Melanie Kwan, PhD, MT-BC, is a pioneer of medical, palliative care, and hospice music therapy in Singapore. Her polyvagal-informed approach supports co-regulation and fosters positive coping for patients and their families.

Ms Estelle Ng

Estelle Ng is a Board-Certified Music Therapist at Singapore General Hospital, specialising in critical care, palliative care, and neurorehabilitation. Her background in sociology and social service informs her humanistic and integrative approach to music therapy.

Ms Stephanie Chan

Stephanie Chan, MT-BC is a board-certified medical music therapist specialising in healthcare settings. Through evidence-based interventions and a humanistic approach, she supports patients’ emotional well-being and recovery using music as a clinical tool.