Meet Anastasia Canfield, MA, MT-BC, LPCC, NCC | Music Therapist, Music Instructor, Mental Health Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anastasia Canfield, MA, MT-BC, LPCC, NCC and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anastasia, how does your business help the community or the world?
Creative Remedies LLC was founded on the ideal that everyone deserves healing and education — and we accomplish this through the arts. We offer all services on a sliding scale so they are accessible regardless of income. I am a board-certified music therapist so that was the first service Creative Remedies offered in addition to mental health counseling, adaptive music lessons, and traditional music lessons. As the business expands, I plan to hire other creative arts therapists and educators, play therapists, yoga teachers and therapists, and more!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I established Creative Remedies LLC in February of 2019. At the time, I was working for Rocky Mountain Music Therapy (a private music therapy practice based out of Longmont) and the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan as a Clinical Therapist. I had been receiving several calls about taking on private clients outside of both the agencies I worked for. I had already decided on going back to school for my second master’s degree in mental health counseling so I wasn’t sure what my work and finances were going to look like at that time. Elizabeth Linder, owner of Rocky Mountain Music Therapy, encouraged me to start a private practice because “look, they’re calling you, not me!” when I shared with her that I was getting contacted about providing mental health music therapy services. She coached me and set me on the track for starting my business.

I don’t think starting any business is “easy” — you’re never really off the clock. However, my dad is an entrepreneur and I have been fortunate to be mentored by very gracious and ethical people who made the process simpler and more stream-lined than it would have by myself. I was also fortunate that I was able to build this business slowly and focus on providing the best possible music therapy services to consumers. Shortly after the second anniversary of establishing Creative Remedies, the business had grown enough that I needed to hire another music therapist. We have been able to offer sliding-scale services to make sure consumers can afford the services they are seeking. Creative Remedies is in the business of healing and educating — everything else is secondary. I think having the priority of serving people first, then dealing with the “bottom line” later has helped the business grow to where it is today — growth mindset, if you will! There is always room at the table when we take care of each other.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What a fun question! Checking out some trails, probably in Golden or Evergreen, are definitely at the top of the list. I also try to encourage my friends to visit when one of my bands (Then I Fly or Occam’s Rose) has a show as we are all music lovers, and where else better to catch a show than Denver?! For my friends who drink, we will take a brewery, distillery, or meadery tour, like the Redstone Meadery in Boulder. While we’re in Boulder, we will take a Celestial Seasonings tour and probably eat at the Sink after a hike along the Flatirons. If we make it up to Fort Collins, we will take a dip in the Horsetooth Reservoir then probably get a tattoo at Millennium Gallery of Living Art from my favorite artist, Keisha. When we’re back in Denver, we will make a day of checking out some shops like the Tattered Cover Book Store and Little Man Ice Cream. There’s so much more I could add… there’s no place quite like this awesome state!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank a few important figures in my life who were instrumental in my success thus far. First, I would like to thank my music therapy internship supervisor and dear friend, Angela Berktold. She challenged me to see my worth as a clinician and musician during a difficult and dark time in my life. I often joke that I continue to think “What would Angie do?” in clinical scenarios which has served me well! Next, Elizabeth Linder hired me to her private practice, Rocky Mountain Music Therapy, right after I completed my music therapy board certification. She has mentored me as a clinician, a business owner, and as a human overall. I carry with me several Elizabeth-isms such as “what you do has to work for your life” and this is an important check-in I return to often. Drs. Angela Schubert and Sonya Lorelle are instructors and supervisors who have set me on the track to becoming a great mental health counselor. Dr. Schubert continues to mentor me and supervise me as I complete post-graduate licensure requirements and Dr. Lorelle mentored me as a graduate assistant coaching other counseling students on their skills as well as helping me write my thesis and potentially publish it soon! She has also inferred several times that Dr. would look good in front of my name… we’ll get there someday, Dr. L!

Website: www.CreativeRemediesLLC.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/CreativeRemediesLLC

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-canfield/

Twitter: Twitter.com/CreativeRemLLC

Facebook: Facebook.com/CreativeRemediesLLC

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/creative-remedies-llc-denver

Image Credits
Kaitlin Smith Chris Tracy