About Able ARTS Work

Helen Dolas, MS, MT-BC is a pioneer in the therapeutic application of creative arts for individuals with disabilities, and the Founder/CEO of Able ARTS Work (formerly known as Arts & Services for Disabled, Inc.) in Long Beach, California, which she established in 1982 while completing a Master’s degree in Special Education. A musician by training and a board-certified music therapist, Dolas adopted a personal mission to direct her considerable energy and creative attention to changing the therapeutic experience and quality of life offered to adults living with disabilities. Driven by Dolas’ life-affirming Love Before Learning philosophy, the nonprofit Able ARTS Work today serves more than 3,000 people annually through a variety of services including enrolled day programs, Accessible Arts Workshops, gallery shows and exhibitions, micro-enterprise initiatives and community partnerships. 

Christina Ritchie is a board-certified music therapist and associate marriage and family therapist located in San Diego, California. Ritchie obtained her bachelor’s degree in music therapy from California State University Northridge, then completed a master’s degree at Antioch University in Clinical Psychology, with a specialization in Psychological Trauma Studies. Ritchie works in private practice as a trauma therapist using music and creative arts, combined with Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to support individuals and families experiencing trauma. Ritchie is also a music therapist at Able Arts Work, providing services in the Creative Health and Wellness Clinic to adults and children across the developmental spectrum. 

Carol Ann Blank, Ph.D., MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist and researcher. Her research interest is early childhood music therapy clinical decision-making. Blank is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Yale University’s The Music Lab. In addition to owning Music Therapy Services of Central New Jersey, Blank is also employed at Music Together Worldwide in Princeton, NJ, where she manages the Music Together Within Therapy license, provides mentoring and training to Music Together teachers and licensees, and teaches Music Together classes. In addition, she is the Manager of Research and Special Needs Services at Music Together Worldwide. Blank supervises practicum students and adjuncts for local music therapy programs. Among her published work is a review of music-based intervention offerings at US-based cancer centers, qualitative reports on music therapy with preschool-aged children delivered virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic, and a preliminary framework for Music Together Within Therapy providers for clinical decision-making with parent-child dyads. 

Andrew Knight, Ph.D., MT-BC has been a practicing board certified-music therapist since 2005, a Music Together Within Therapy provider, and associate professor of music therapy at Colorado State University. He has served on the American Music Therapy Association Board of Directors, on the Midwestern Region of AMTA Board of Directors, and has been awarded the MWR Service Award and the AMTA Service Award. He has published research and other articles in Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, and the International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, among other publications. 

Raquel Ravaglioli, Ph.D., MT-BC is the Director of Music Therapy and Associate Professor at Biola University. She received her B.M. in violin performance and music therapy and M.A. in Creative Arts Therapies with an emphasis in Music Therapy. Her Doctoral studies in the Individual Interdisciplinary Program at Ohio University combined Higher Education and Counselor Education to focus on the pedagogy of music therapy, and resulted in a qualitative case study titled “Appreciate Practices in Music Therapy Education.” Current research interests include effective teaching practices in music therapy, early childhood music therapy, and music therapy with mild cognitive impairment. Ravaglioli established her business in 2015, Raquel Christine Music, which incorporates music instruction, music therapy, and music performance. She has provided music therapy services internationally, continues to perform violin in professional orchestras and is actively involved in the greater Los Angeles community. Recent and current chamber and orchestra performances private contracting and the Stockton Symphony. Other music therapy training include NICU-MT, NMT and GIM level I.