Looking for qualified music therapists on the Central Coast? Registered music therapist and qualified sound healing practitioner Kayoko Minglis has joined the growing team at Central Coast Conservatorium, which offers one-to-one and group music therapy sessions in Gosford.

Central Coast Conservatorium is a registered NDIS provider and runs music therapy classes from its dedicated studio on the Con’s Mann Street campus.

Kayoko is a registered music therapist with the Australian Music Therapy Association and she has also worked at the UTS music therapy clinic with a wide range of clients with people with special needs from young children to young adults. She also supervises postgraduate music therapy students at university.

Kayoko is also qualified as a performer in sound healing (with Japanese ‘singing’ bowls) and sound meditation, trained by the Sound Healing Academy UK. Her music therapy experience includes:

• early intervention (both individual and group)
• children with disabilities (both individual and group)
• children with autism spectrum disorder (both individual and group)
• adults with disabilities (both individual and group)
• aged care facilities

Kayoko decided to pursue her career as a registered music therapist after seeing the benefit music had on children when she was working as an early childhood educator. “I realised that children participate in music time very well and after music time, some of them become calm easily and their behaviour with day routine becomes positive. Music can change children’s life.”

About Music Therapy

Music therapy differs from music education as its main goal is not to develop musical skills or learn a new instrument, but rather to aim to improve a person’s health, functioning and well-being in a therapeutic setting that uses music interventions as the primary tool. 

Goals such as increasing social skills, providing ways to interact and communicate verbally and non-verbally, developing cognitive awareness, gaining sensory motor skills, promoting relaxation, providing opportunities for reminiscence, working towards rehabilitation and providing opportunities for self-expression can all be addressed through various Music Therapy techniques.

Who can it help?

Many people of all ages and abilities can benefit from music therapy, including children and adults with:

• intellectual and physical disabilities 
• mood disorders
• neurological disorders 
• rehabilitation for stroke patients
• behavioural issues
• elderly and dementia patients

About our Music Therapy department

Our Music Therapy department is led by registered music therapist, violinist and chamber musician Emma Townsend.

Emma is a Registered Music Therapist with clinical experience in a wide range of populations. Emma has worked as a music therapist in hospitals, aged care facilities, special needs schools, early childhood intervention programs, community disability groups, adult mental health, and private practice. 

Emma grew up in Tamworth, first learning piano in her early years and then beginning violin through the Suzuki Method when she was eight. While at school, Emma was concertmaster of the Tamworth Regional Youth Orchestra, and performed in programs with the Australian Youth Orchestra. She went on to gain a Bachelor of Music (Performance) and Master of Music Studies (Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying under Dr Evgeny Sorkin. Then, combining her interest in music, medicine, and psychology, she gained a Master of Music Therapy through the University of Melbourne. 

In 2015, Emma was awarded a BBM Award for outstanding achievement in the field of music. This award facilitated her travel to the United Kingdom and the United States where she studied with prominent teachers from the Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, London Guildhall of Music and Drama, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the New England Conservatory (Boston). While residing at St. Andrew’s College (University of Sydney), she held a music scholarship and was a student representative for music within the college. 

While studying at the Sydney Conservatorium, Emma was a concertmaster of several ensembles, including the Conservatorium Opera Orchestra, and the Asia Pacific Chamber Orchestra. Emma has also been a principal second violinist in the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. 

Emma performs regularly throughout Sydney and the region as an orchestral and chamber musician. She was a member of Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Sinfonia Emerging Artists Program, and has since performed with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Concertante Ensemble, the Riverina Camerata, and the Verbrugghen Ensemble. 

Find out about our Music Therapy HERE