Molly Austin

Assistant Professor of
Music Therapy

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Biography

Dr. Molly Austin is a board-certified music therapist with nearly a decade of clinical experience across a wide range of populations, from early childhood to older adults. She is best known for her pioneering work as the first full-time music therapist within the Florida Department of Corrections. There, she developed and led a music therapy program for adult male inmates with mental illnesses for five years. She also established a partnership with Florida State University’s music therapy program, enabling practicum students to gain hands-on experience within the correctional setting.

In addition to her work in corrections, Dr. Austin has extensive clinical and supervisory experience in eating disorder treatment centers, where she has mentored both music therapy and mental health counseling students and interns. During her graduate studies, she also supervised music therapy students in early childhood centers, middle schools, and high schools.
Dr. Austin’s research interests include censorship in music therapy, anxiety reduction through preferred music, and creative arts therapists’ personal experiences with secondary traumatic stress. Her master’s thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of a music therapy-based stress management curriculum in reducing perceived stress among incarcerated individuals. Her dissertation focused on music therapists’ censorship practices within a school system. She has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences, including the Southeastern Regional and National American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) conferences and the World Congress of Music Therapy. She is also actively involved in professional service and currently serves as Second Vice President of the Southeast Region Chapter of AMTA.

Dr. Austin holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy and a Master of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University. While at FSU, she was an appointed member of the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, a finalist for the Graduate Student Leadership Award, and a recipient of the Mary J. Hilliard Music Therapy Scholarship. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Converse University, where she was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

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Education

Ph.D., Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy
Florida State University, 2025

M.M., Music Therapy
Florida State University, 2018

B.M., Music Therapy
Converse University, 2015