Keynote

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Krystal Demaine, PhD, REAT, MT-BC, RYT

We are pleased to announce Dr. Krystal Demaine, PhD, REAT, MT-BC, RYT as our 2026 Keynote Speaker.

Demaine is an educator, clinician, and expressive therapies leader specializing in music therapy and intermodal expressive arts practice. She is a Board-Certified Music Therapist, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, Registered Yoga Teacher, and Certified Trauma and Resilience Specialist, with over two decades of work integrating neuroscience, embodiment, and creative expression in healing and learning spaces. Her advanced training includes integrative medicine, nutrition for mental health, HeartMath-based trauma approaches, neurologic music therapy, herbalism certification, and performance wellness, reflecting a deep commitment to embodied, evidence-informed health and wellness practice.

Demaine serves in regional and international leadership roles with organizations advancing creative arts in therapy and education, while active in shaping the evolving landscape of expressive therapies scholarship and practice. She is the author of Expressive Therapeutic Writing (2024) and The Roots and Rhythm of the Heart (2022), with forthcoming Routledge publications (2027–2028) exploring creative expression and integrative expressive arts.

With a focus on expressive therapies, Demaine will share what is at the heart of her work - a devotion to what becomes possible when people are given rhythm, language, breath, and image to return to themselves—through creativity, connection, and the healing arts.