PhD Katarzyna Turek

Acting Head of the Music Therapy Department, music therapist, musician, Master of Arts. She graduated with honours from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław (Composition and Music Theory, specialisation: Music Therapy) and in Katowice (Instrumental Studies, specialisation: oboe). She defended her doctoral thesis on Music Therapy and Sinus Rhythm Variability and Selected Psychological Factors in Adolescents Treated for Cancer at the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the Academy of Physical Education in Wrocław. She works as an assistant professor at the Department of Music Therapy at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław and as a music therapy consultant at the Meeting Centre for people with dementia and their carers run by the ‘Na Ciepłej’ MOPS Day Care Centre in Wrocław.

She is the scientific editor (together with Dr. Paweł Cylulko, professor at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music) of the monograph ‘Sound-Music-Therapy’ published by the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław and member of the Scientific Council of the ‘Polish Journal of Music Therapy’ published by the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

The author specialises in music therapy in mental disorders, psychogeriatrics and clinical music therapy. She teaches at the Psychiatry Clinic of the University Clinical Hospital in Wrocław, as well as at the ‘Na Ciepłej’ Day Care Centre of the Municipal Social Welfare Centre in Wrocław, preparing future music therapists for clinical practice. At her alma mater, the Academy of Music, she promotes diploma, bachelor's and master's theses. In 2019-2022, she supervised the Student Research Club of Music Therapy.

Dr Katarzyna Turek has participated in many inter-university projects, such as: 2017-2020 research and development project ‘VRTierOne – a VR game supporting therapy and rehabilitation of stroke patients’. The VR game is aimed at reducing symptoms of depression and strengthening patients in the area of acceptance of their illness and self-efficacy in post-stroke rehabilitation; 2014-2016 participant in the Personnel section of the group initiating a new support programme for people with dementia and their carers, Meetingdem: ‘Support programme – Meeting Centre’ implemented by the Department of Psychiatry of the Consultative Psychiatry and Neurological Research Unit of the Piastów Śląskich Medical University in Wrocław (currently coordinator of the Meetingdem Meeting Centre since 2023 and music therapy consultant at the Social Welfare Centre in Wrocław); 2010-2012 participant and beneficiary of a research scholarship as part of the project ‘Improving the teaching and research potential in occupational therapy as a key to the development of higher education institutions’. The project was implemented in cooperation with the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) and the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE).

She is the author and co-author of scientific publications on music therapy in the field of psychogeriatrics, dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, neonatology, music and movement in therapeutic activities. She cooperates with centres promoting art therapy and actively participates in programmes supporting people who are excluded or affected by various diseases, including lifestyle diseases. She has actively participated in conferences on music therapy, psychogeriatrics, psychiatry, oncology and rehabilitation. She cooperates with the Piastów Śląskich Medical University in Wrocław, the Polish Olympians Academy of Physical Education in Wrocław, the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, the Municipal Social Welfare Centre in Wrocław, and the National Forum of Music. Since 2017, she has been presenting topics related to music therapy during the Lower Silesian Science Festival, and since 2023 she has been the university coordinator of the DFN at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław.