Music Therapy Education & Background

Helen earned her MA in Music Therapy from Roehampton University and has been practising since 2007, when she joined a Music Therapy team working for a charity based in Berkshire. Helen completed her training in Guided Imagery & Music (GIM) on the Integrative Guided Imagery and Music Training Programme (London), where she also gained a diploma in Music & Imagery Therapy, and where she is now an Assistant Trainer and Supervisor on the Music & Imagery Therapy courses, alongside running her own private practice.

Training with Dag Korlin, creator of the Music Breathing Method, Helen has also qualified as an Independent Music Breathing Practitioner, an adaptation of GIM which focuses on breathwork and music-listening, which can be extremely effective in the treatment of trauma.

Helen also has extensive experience of working with adults and young people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, Autistic Spectrum Condition, sensory processing difficulties, terminal illness, Dementia, and the link between emotional and physical pain. From 2009 - 2019, Helen co-facilitated a Music as Communication Project in Minsk, Belarus, as part of a fellow Music Therapist's PhD research. Staff were trained in using music as a form of emotional communication with the children in their care.  

Skills & Approach

Helen supports a wide range of people to explore and move forward from difficult emotional experiences and is committed to helping people to reach their fullest potential. She believes that we all have the capacity to transform our emotional selves through exploration of our own unique creativity. 

Helen understands the need to feel safe when exploring life's challenges and our emotional worlds, and strives to create a warm, comfortable, and accepting environment tailored to individual needs. 

Trust built in the relationship between Therapist and Client, as well as in the ability of music to soothe and heal, is at the heart of Helen's ethos. She believes it is the combination of therapeutic relationship, music, and imagery, which opens the doorway to our own individual routes for change.



 Clinical Areas

You may be seeking help with: 

  • Stress
  • Anxiety or low mood
  • Significant life events
  • Mental health/wellbeing as a musician/music or other creative industry professional
  • Performance anxiety/creative block
  • Bereavement or other types of loss
  • Emotional/relational/complex trauma/post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Difficult relationships
  • Work or educational related stress
  • Illness
  • Early stage Dementia
  • Learning Disability
  • Physical Disability
  • Autistic Spectrum Condition 

Or, perhaps you are a Music Therapy, GIM, Psychiatry, Psychology, or Holistic Therapy student looking for personal therapy during your training...  

You may be interested in exploring your personal and/or musical creativity, or simply be curious about Creative Arts Therapies. 

Qualifications, Certifications, & Affiliations

  • Music Therapy (MA)
  • Guided Imagery & Music (Advanced Diploma) 
  • Music & Imagery Therapy (Dip.)
  • Independent Music Breathing Practitioner (Dip.)
  • Music BA (Hons)
  • VoiceGym Instructor (Level One)
  • Certified by The Health and Care Professions Council: Arts Therapist: AS10625
  • Enhanced DBS check
  • ICO registered
  • Fellow of the Association for Music & Imagery
  • Member of the European Association of Music & Imagery
  • Member of The British Association for Music Therapy

Research, Publications, & Presentations 

  • Music as Communication Project (Minsk, Belarus) - Facilitator of initial pilot project (2009), Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, & Supervisor (2014 & 2019).
  • Wallace, H. (2010) 'An Inquiry into an Integrated Approach to Music Therapy for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder & Sensory Integration Dysfunction'. MA research project, Roehampton University (unpublished).
  • Margetts, L., Wallace, H. & Young, E. (2013) 'A Potential Space: Approaching "Outsider Research" with Classroom Practitioners working with Children with Complex Needs in Belarus', British Journal of Music Therapy, Vol.27, 2 p.6-23 (Co-Author)
  • Wallace, H. (2018) 'A Whirlwind of Being', Music & Imagery Therapy Case Study, presented at the 13th European GIM Conference, European Association of Music and Imagery (EAMI)
  • Wallace, H (2021) 'Containment Through Collaboration: Online Therapy During Lockdown - A Pilot Project', Music & Imagery Therapy Groupwork Case Study, presented as part of a roundtable (Supportive Music & Imagery: Integrating Artwork & Imagery into Music Therapy practice), at The British Association for Music Therapy's annual conference (theme: 'Open Ground: Music Therapy in Collaboration & Exchange)
  • Wallace, H (2022) 'The Way We Were: A multi-method approach to Music Therapy to support an adult with Learning Disability through bereavement', Music Therapy & Music & Imagery Therapy Case Study, presented at the 12th European Music Therapy Conference (theme: 'Music Therapy in Progress - Please Disturb')
  • Wallace, H (2022) 'Online Group Music & Imagery Therapy During Lockdown', presented as part of a roundtable (The Use of Music & Imagery Methods as stand-alone interventions and as part of the continuum model), at the 12th European Music Therapy Conference 
  • Wallace, H. & Jakubauskas, R. (2022) 'A Sense of Belonging: Piloting an online Supportive Music & Imagery Therapy Group for Adult Carers during Covid-19', poster presentation at the 12th European Music Therapy Conference 
  • Wallace, H (2022) 'Reclaiming Jocelyn: One Woman's Journey Back to her Self through Music & Imagery Therapy', poster presentation at the 12th European Music Therapy Conference
  • Wallace, H, & Jakubauskas, R (2023) 'Piloting Online Group Music & Imagery Therapy for Adult Carers during Covid-19', poster presentation at the World Federation of Music Therapy World Congress of Music Therapy

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