Helena

Helena is a registered music therapist with extensive experience in health, hospice and community settings. Originally trained as a classical violinist at the Sydney Conservatorium in a Bachelor of Music, Helena moved to Melbourne to pursue her Masters of Music Therapy which she completed in 2017. Helena is committed to making music therapy accessible, meaningful, and impactful for the individuals and families she works with.

Helena feels very passionately about reducing barriers to participation in music making and supporting children and young people’s quality of life. Through her work at Very Special Kids children’s hospice and at Monash Children’s Hospital, she has fostered supportive environments where children and young people creatively explore meaningful avenues for expression, development, recovery, and bereavement. Helena enjoys working within a family-centred framework, with experience in parent-infant bonding and premature infants in the NICU.

Across her career, Helena has developed her neurorehabilitation skills through her work at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre and Epworth Neurorehab, working with adults who have experienced neurological and spinal injuries. To further educate herself on neurorehabilitation techniques, Helena completed the Neurologic Music Therapy Training in 2021, developing her knowledge in functional rehabilitation and recovery, and to support building coping resources during long term recovery. Helena worked in a neurologic music therapy clinic whilst she lived in Dublin, where she worked with children and adults with a range of needs.

With a keen interest in education, Helena is a tutor at the University of Melbourne, supporting tertiary students to develop their therapeutic facilitation skills, and has been an ongoing clinical supervisor for music therapy student placements. At Beyond Speech, Helena is dedicated to creating inclusive, evidence-based therapeutic environments for individuals across the lifespan.

Helena is a Member of the Australian Music Therapy Association.