Jenny Barrett-Freeman
Founder/Music Therapist 

Jenny is a classically-trained cellist and completed her BA (Hons) degree in Music at Leeds University in 2005.

She studied Music Therapy at Queen Margaret University culminating in an MSc (Nordoff-Robbins) in 2010. After graduation, she set up and provided Music Therapy services for the City of Edinburgh Council, Bupa and private clients, working with people with learning difficulties, brain injuries, autism and dementia and facilitating singing groups in care homes and day centres.

In 2016 she established Forth Music Therapy Service Ltd in order to develop new Music Therapy projects as well as to bring together therapists to work collaboratively and incorporate different approaches. Aiming to create more opportunities, she has set up projects for Care UK, Teens+, Barnardo's and Capability Scotland.

Through Forth Music Therapy, Jenny aims to further develop its services, continuing to provide professional Music Therapy and music services to improve the well-being and quality of life for those who are hardest to reach and who need it most.

Angeliki Gkini
​Music Therapist

Angeliki is a professional violinist and music therapist.  She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Music at the Department of Science and Art, University of Macedonia, in Greece in 2014; acquiring her violin diploma with distinction.

In 2015 she moved to Edinburgh in order to pursue her dream of becoming a music therapist.  Since completing her MSc in Music therapy in 2017 at Queen Margaret University with distinction, she has been working as a freelance music therapist.

Angeliki has worked with a variety of client groups, such as adults with dementia, learning and physical disabilities, mental health illnesses, children with autism, emotional and behavioural needs, and in various settings such as schools, prisons and hospitals.  This has offered her a multidimensional experience that has contributed towards her professional development as a music therapist.

Currently, Angeliki is providing music therapy group sessions to care homes of elderly people living with dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and others, where she uses a variety of instruments and techniques including singing pre-composed songs, improvisation, song-writing and music games.  Additionally, she organises and delivers individual music therapy sessions to children who have cancer, including their relatives.

Angeliki strives to promote music therapy, bringing it to the communities and people who need it most, regardless of their disability.  She always aims to create a safe space for the individual, where they can express themselves beyond words and discover a creative way of engaging and interacting with music.  Being with the person and providing them with this space helps them to flourish and unfold their musicality. 

Angeliki strongly believes that music therapy is an alternative means which can be used to reach and bring people together, build hope and encourage self-expression.

Laura Anderson
Music Therapist 

After graduating from Queen Margaret University with an MSc Music Therapy (Nordoff Robbins), Laura’s first post was with NHS Borders where she played a key role in the delivery of music therapy services to adults with learning disabilities and children with additional support needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, learning disabilities and emotional/behavioural difficulties. Following this, raising a new family became a priority which led to many years living on the north coast of Spain where she continued with her love for community music, joining a trio to offer vocal harmonies and percussion with her husband on guitar, accompanying celebrated Asturian folk artist Marta Elola. Also at this time, she taught English as a second language, using music and the creative arts as tools to learn in a way that was fun and natural.

Upon returning to Scotland, Laura completed honorary work in adult mental health through NHS Lothian as part of her return to practice. She then came to Forth Music Therapy where she continues to develop her professional insight, learning alongside the broad range of people she supports, together with their families and carers. She is gaining new awareness of issues for children in care as well as homelessness and domestic abuse. Laura has a special interest in Mother Infant bonding and is developing opportunities for perinatal song circles. She holds a weekly Singing for Pregnancy and Parenthood group and will soon open a community singing group for mental health and wellbeing. 

Laura is a singer-songwriter and has a jazz-based background, having earned a diploma in contemporary music (Selkirk College, Nelson, British Columbia) where elements of improvisation, connecting through music with spontaneity, self-expression and liberation, continue to inspire her music therapy work. She is interested in ethnomusicology and has undertaken independent study of percussion in Brazil as well as travelling to the south of Spain to take in the sounds of flamenco. Her travels and interest in other cultures has nurtured an ability to adapt and engage with diverse settings and people. She looks forward to many more years of connecting with people through music, both in clinical and community environments, where one can feel heard and uplifted, and a sense of belonging is nurtured.

Vanessa Kind
​Music Therapist

Vanessa grew up in Nova Scotia Canada, where as a child and teenager she studied piano at the Maritime Conservatory of Music. Not imagining herself as a performing artist, Vanessa initially pursued a career in the sciences, and began working within the field of sustainable development policy and research when she moved to Scotland in 2001. However, when her children were born a few years later, she noticed how life became centred on music once more, and how natural it felt to be both communicating and connecting with them through music. Vanessa thought back to her time playing the piano and the role it played in her own emotional well-being, as well as the capacity for music to foster connections between people; this led her to learn about the music therapy profession.

In 2017, Vanessa made the decision to change career and retrain as a music therapist, graduating in 2020 with Distinction from Queen Margaret University. 

Since qualifying as a music therapist, Vanessa has worked primarily in NHS mental health settings, and with Forth Music Therapy holding community music groups and working with individuals. Her approach is centred on the participatory and creative aspects of music making, and how this can support positive mental health and well-being. Vanessa has experience of working with people with dementia, children and adolescents, and people living with mental health conditions.

Vanessa offers in-person supervision at St. Margaret’s House in Edinburgh to newly qualified music therapists.

Eirini Chouliara
Music Therapist 

Eirini is from Greece, she graduated from the Music, Science and Art course at the University of Macedonia in 2012. She is a classically trained musician and has a diploma in flute, sings and plays various instruments including piano, guitar, cello and a range of percussion instruments. She has worked as a professional musician, instrumental music tutor and a coordinator of musical programmes for children aged 8 months to 3 years old and their parents.

Eirini is a fully qualified psychodynamic music therapist who graduated from the MSc Music Therapy course at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She is a member of British Association for Music Therapy.

Eirini specialises in working with parents and their babies during the perinatal period. With varied experience working with children and families for many years, she works with the understanding that engaging the whole family in the therapeutic process contributes towards developing positive attachments and supports bonding between the infant and parents.

Additionally, she has clinical experience with early intervention including infants who have suffered neglect and young children who have experienced childhood trauma. She has worked in settings with children, adolescents, and adults with complex social, emotional and behavioural needs, including autism and profound learning disabilities.

Through Forth Music Therapy, Eirini aims to improve the overall wellbeing of the people she works with and use the art of music as a tool to create communication bridges, bringing music to those who need it.

Dr James Robertson
​Advisor

James Robertson comes from Helensburgh. He graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), studying composition with Frank Spedding and winning several prizes in harmony and composition. He then studied as a music therapist at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre in London and later trained as a music teacher at Dundee College of Education.

As a composer, James has published many songs for music therapy purposes. He has also written and arranged extensively for choirs. His largest-scale work, Requiem for the Innocent, is dedicated to the Edinburgh Bach Choir. He has conducted several choirs throughout Scotland and is currently the Musical Director of Lauderdale Community Choir in the Scottish Borders and the Dovecot Singers in Edinburgh.

As a music therapist, James began working with adults with learning disabilities in East Lothian and later with children who had a range of additional support needs in schools throughout Perthshire.

James also worked as a music teacher in Kinross High School. In 1992 he moved to Northern College in Aberdeen where he focused particularly on the overlap between music therapy and music education with students studying to become music teachers in schools. In 2002 James was appointed Programme Co-ordinator of the Postgraduate Diploma in Music Therapy (Nordoff-Robbins) at the Moray House School of Education (University of Edinburgh). This programme transferred to Queen Margaret University in 2005 and was then offered at Masters level; James was the Programme Leader until 2013. For several years he taught the Introduction to Music Therapy module at Edinburgh Napier University. As a clinician, James continued to work in a range of settings including palliative care, forensic psychiatry, autism and perinatal depression. His doctoral research investigated the potential health benefits that may be acquired by patients and staff in a forensic unit when singing in a choir. James lives in Edinburgh and now works on a freelance basis.

He also supervises music therapists throughout the UK.