Ep 41 Portrait of a Music Therapy Service During Lockdown

 


Luke interviewed eight colleagues from the team at Oxleas Music
Therapy Service about their experiences of adapting practice
during lockdown. This has inevitably included a wide range of
experiences, some very positive, some frustrating, but all of
them demonstrating the ability of music therapists to adapt and
improvise in a crisis, keeping the children and young people they
are working with at the centre of their practice. You can also
find a shorter edit of this project (with a musical bonus) on the
service website. Here are their biogs in order of appearance:


Sarah Hadley is the manager of Oxleas Music Therapy Service. You
can see a more extensive biog for Sarah in the notes for her own
episode of Music Therapy Conversations (Episode 36 from March
2020).


Oonagh Jones is Principal Music Therapist at Oxleas NHS
Foundation Trust where she is Caseload Manager and Lead for
the Under 5s service.  Oonagh works in
mainstream, special schools and children's centres; with a
particular interest in working with children and young people who
have experienced trauma.


Anthony Voelcker has worked in secondary schools since graduating
from Roehampton in 2013, specialising in working with young
people with learning disabilities. He currently working in two
South London SEN schools, leading the music therapy
team at Charlton Park Academy and working as the music
therapist at Greenvale School.


Nicky O'Neill is one of the Principal music therapists. She is
the Contracts Manager for the Service, with a career-long
interest and specialism in children with complex needs -ASD as
well as health needs.  


Jimmy Lyons' musical background is in live performance,
songwriting and recording. After completing a Master’s degree in
music technology in his native Ireland, Jimmy moved to the UK and
trained at Nordoff Robbins in London where he qualified in 2013.
He currently runs a private music therapy practice (Right Note
Therapeutic Services), studies Family & Systemic
Psychotherapy studies at The Tavistock & Portman NHS
Foundation Trust, and works for the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
music therapy service.


Hannah Smith has worked for Oxleas NHS since 2014, initially
alongside other Music Therapy posts in acute mental health,
forensic mental health and as a self-employed therapist, but
moving to full time from 2017. Hannah's clinical
work encompasses mainstream and special education,
children's centres and the core NHS service, as well
as co-ordinating student placements and the
service audit of clients accessing Music
Therapy and the outcome measures relating to their
provision.


Since qualifying as a music therapist at Queen Margaret
University, Edinburgh, Gillian O’Dempsey has worked for the NHS
Borders CAMHS service and the Cheyne Child Development Service at
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, she currently works for NHS
Oxleas with children in mainstream primary schools and special
schools.  Gillian taught the Introduction to Music Therapy
module at Napier University, Edinburgh and now teaches on the
Interactive Music-Maker training course run by Music as Therapy
International.  Before music therapy training, Gillian
worked in education in a variety of teaching roles.​


Richard Murison has worked in this team with children, young
people and adults, since qualifying from Roehampton in 2008. He
is a guitarist and singer-songwriter. Richard has led on several
research projects for the service, including a qualitative
investigation of transitions from childrens to adult services,
which was awarded the poster prize at the BAMT 2016 Glasgow
conference.