MountainCare, INc.

Asheville, NC
Last Updated: Fall 2019

About the Site

Clients

Setting(s): Hospice, Grief Counseling, Adult Day Services 
Population(s): Those with terminal or life-limiting illnesses
Age Range: Infant - Older adult

Facility

When a large healthcare company acquired Mission Health on January 31, 2019 the hospital and all of its entities became for-profit. Because the operation of Adult Day Services, Grief Support, Music Therapy and the Rathbun House depends heavily on private donors and grants that only award to non-profits, we were determined to find a way to continue our mission as a non-profit. The non-profit CarePartners Health Services was reconfigured to include only these groups and began operating under the name of MountainCare, Inc. on February 1, 2019. WNC Bridge Foundation will become more focused on the operation of the entities comprising MountainCare and we will continue to receive their financial support and guidance. The generosity of donors within our community has been instrumental in our success over the years, and we remain grateful for ongoing donor support.
MountainCare Music Therapy provides contractual music therapy services throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC and its neighbors. We provide music therapy in Buncombe County and surrounding counties to clients in their homes, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and an inpatient hospice facility. We also may offer Grief Support Services, including leading psychoeducational classes/workshops or support groups, or groups in our Adult Day Services Center. Available resources and equipment include a library of sheet music on an iPad and music literature, guitars, keyboards, guitar-banjo, Irish harp, tone chimes, rhythm instruments, music notation software, and portable digital recorders.

Training

The music therapy program functions primarily as part of an interdisciplinary care team for people in the final phase of terminal illness. Our philosophy of practice is based on humanistic and existential therapeutic principles, and we strive to enable patients to live an alert, pain-free life of quality and dignity during their final months. Our 7-month, 40-hours-per-week internship emphasizes excellent musicianship, proficiency using a variety of therapeutic techniques, and professional self-awareness, including countertransference issues, self-care, and the intern’s own relationship to death and grief. Each intern is expected to build and manage a caseload of approximately 20 Hospice clients, co-teach a grief education class/workshop, and attend weekly interdisciplinary team meetings; other opportunities may be available including a group in Adult Day services. Interns must have reliable personal transportation (i.e., a car); mileage expenses to patient’s homes are reimbursed. Please email the Internship Director for application and clinical packet, as these documents contain the most up to date information.

Essentials

STarting Months

January, April, July, October

Housing

Nominal fee for arrangements, housing is not guaranteed

Meals

Please inquire

Stipend

$2,000.00 Scholarship to Student's University Account

Contact Information

Deb Curley-Dempsey, Music Therapy Internship Director

MOUNTAINCARE, INC.
P. O. BOX 5956
ASHEVILLE, NC 28813
DEBCD@MTNCARE.ORG
PHONE: (828) 820-2080
FAX: (828) 277-4855