Terel (pronounced “Tur-ELLE”) Jackson is associated faculty of music therapy at The Ohio State University’s School of Music. She is a neurologic music therapy fellow at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, where she provides music therapy services for The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, The James Cancer Supportive Care clinic, and the JamesCare for Life community program.

Ms. Jackson is a Baltimore, Maryland native who grew up swing dancing with her father, collecting books with her mother, and playing Pee-Wee’s Playhouse with her sister. Though she initially wanted to be Louis Armstrong and an archeologist and an obstetrician when she grew up, Terel was ultimately drawn to caring for others through concentrations in music therapy and psychology.

In 2005, Jackson completed her undergraduate music therapy education at Howard University,  and her clinical training internship at Riley Hospital for Children at Methodist Hospital with a focus in pediatrics, neonatal intensive care, and high-risk maternity. In 2010 she completed her graduate music therapy education at Shenandoah Conservatory, and explored the neurophysiological aspects of music-induced emotional experiences for her master’s thesis. Later, in keeping with her interest in science-informed clinical practice, Terel pursued a specialty designation in neurologic music therapy through the Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy. She achieved her most recent fellowship renewal in 2024. She may or may not have presented a rendition of “Another Rainy Day” by Corinne Bailey Rae as part of her jury...

Ms. Jackson practiced music therapy and trained music therapy interns in a number of institutions (including the National Institutes of Health, the Lombardi Cancer Center, and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center) before venturing to the Midwest to become a Buckeye in 2013. Since then, she has participated in extensive music therapy program development, education, and most importantly, cultivating meaningful relationships with patients, families, colleagues and students.

Jackson’s burgeoning research interests include music psychosocial training, music-based health and healthcare (in the context of history and culture), and music therapy quality assurance and performance improvement.

Terel’s favorite instrument is the triangle. Her first instrument was the trumpet.

Hear Terel Jackson

Interview on The James' "A Cancer Free World" podcast (2021).

On an episode of All Sides Considered on WOSU (2017).

Ms. Terel Jackson, MMT, NMT-F, LPMT, MT-BC
Licensed Professional Music Therapist
Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center: Cancer Supportive Care
Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute