Discover Canal

Our Founders

Oussama Charafeddine is a music therapist, recognized national-level trainer, expert in child protection and a specialist in psychosocial support with over 10 years of experience. He is the co-founder of Canal – L’atelier de Musicothérapie, the first music therapy workshop in North Lebanon, where he leads innovative work at the intersection of music and psychosocial well-being through relational, non-clinical music therapy.

As a music therapist, he creates safe, non-judgmental spaces where individuals and groups can explore emotions, strengthen communication, and reconnect through musical interaction. As a national trainer, Oussama has designed and delivered capacity-building programs across Lebanon for educators, social workers, and child protection professionals.

He is also a composer and choir conductor, currently serving as the assistant conductor of the renowned Fayha National Choir. His multidisciplinary approach places music at the heart of emotional support, communication, and community care.

Oussama Charafeddine

Dima Jaroudi

Dima Jaroudi is a music therapist and the co-founder of Canal – L’atelier de Musicothérapie, where she focuses on creating safe, inclusive, and meaningful experiences for neurodiverse individuals. Since 2023, she has worked closely with over 40 children, adolescents, and adults with autism, ADHD, and other developmental differences — using music as a gentle and powerful tool for connection, communication, and emotional support.

Dima’s approach is deeply rooted in relational, non-clinical music therapy, where every person is met with empathy, patience, and respect. She believes that music doesn't require performance or explanation — it simply creates space for people to be themselves, to feel heard, and to express what words sometimes cannot.

At Canal, Dima plays a central role in shaping programs that are adaptive, inclusive, and responsive to each individual’s needs. Her work reflects a strong commitment to accessibility, emotional safety, and the belief that everyone deserves a space to connect — through music — at their own rhythm.

Mission

At Canal, our mission is to offer music-based spaces where people of all ages and backgrounds feel welcomed, respected and accompanied - not evaluated or corrected.

We envision Canal growing into a regional and international reference for ethical, inclusive, and human-centered music therapy practices — where individuals, families, and communities come to rediscover creativity, expression, communication and human presence.

Vision

Our Values

Express

In music therapy, expression is not something we provoke or shape — it arises when a person feels they are genuinely received. We do not guide people to express what we think should emerge; we simply offer presence, silence, and sound. In this environment, expression becomes a spontaneous act of being — a sound, a breath, a silence, a gesture — that belongs fully to the person. When someone is truly heard without expectation, their inner life finds its own way to surface, musically or otherwise. Expression is not a tool. It is a right.

Communicate

Communication, in our view, does not begin with language. It begins with presence — with being alongside the other in a space that allows resonance. Music is not a code to interpret, but a vibration that moves between us. A rhythm, a pulse, a shared silence — these are not symbols to analyze; they are direct forms of being-with. Through them, we enter into contact. Communication in therapy is not about transmitting information. It is about the mutual recognition that “I am here, and you are here,” and that something can take form in this meeting — something alive that belongs to neither one of us alone.

At the heart of our approach is the relationship. Music is only the space — the frame — that allows connection to unfold. The therapeutic value is not in the song, nor the technique, but in the encounter. Connection is built through a shared presence through the way we respond to each other — not by directing or analyzing, but by listening and allowing ourselves to be affected. In this connection, the person may begin to experience themselves differently: not as someone to fix, but as someone to meet. That is where transformation begins.

Connect