At Silverwood we offer a variety of therapies to support students with their diverse needs.
We offer creative therapies across the school such as music therapy and animal therapy. These are designed to address specific challenges faced by our pupils in terms of their mental health , communication, and emotional regulation, with the aim of enhancing their learning and overall well-being.
Arts therapies are used to facilitate individuals or groups to use the Arts, such as Music, Art, Dance and Drama to help manage their well-being.
Joanna integrates neuro-emotional technique, primitive reflex integration, acceptance and commitment therapy and counselling in to the sessions. She has presented on a world wide platform about the effictiveness of music therapy on selective mutism and neurodiverse communities.
Somethings are just too difficult to talk about or we don’t know where to start, so we can use expressive therapies to help us manage and communicate about our feelings.
Sessions take place weekly, during the session you may wish to play a variety of the wonderful instruments on offer, you may prefer to draw, write or talk about how you feel, and we can use the arts to help illustrate those feelings, or you may even wish just to relax whilst the therapist plays music to you.
Joanna has been working on the Rowde Campus for many years, and helped pupils to grow in confidence and learn strategies to cope with difficult situations. I rely on good communication with the home and school setting, and advocate for the pupils I work with.
Originally from Greece, I have been living in the UK for 26 years, where I attained a bachelor honours degree in Behavioural Health Sciences (UWE 2002) and a masters degree in music therapy (UWE 2022). During this time, I would work as a support/ care worker when I was not gigging in the UK or around Europe. Playing in many different music projects from a young age I became aware of the transformational power of the act of playing music with others way before I had heard anything about music therapy as a scientific discipline. These days as a therapist, I still enjoy improvisational work; those moments in a session when everything clicks and suddenly the music becomes a connective tissue between the players are so gentle and powerful at the same time. Working with children yields many such moments and I always feel privileged to be part of their expressive journey.
In my free time I read books, go swimming, watch films, hang out with the cat, sometimes juggle and, well, play music
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I'm a music therapist based in Bristol, with a master’s in music therapy from the University of the West of England (distinction). In my previous role as primary school teacher I found that many students were unable to access the learning and reach their full potential due to social and emotional difficulties which needed time and space to be expressed safely. As a music therapist, I am passionate about creating a safe and nourishing space for young people to express themselves through music, so that they can feel heard. Allowing space for all emotions to be expressed and processed,allows young people to thrive. My main instrument is my voice, and I love to write songs. I also play some piano, guitar, ukulele and flute, and love to learn new songs and musical games.
Silverwood Creates Music is a project that runs across all Silverwood campuses aimed at offering creative music opportunities to groups of pupils.
The sessions are designed to have a therapeutic approach with an emphasis on free expression and collaboration.
Some of the recordings highlights from this project are captured on video and shared on the Silverwood You Tube channel...
Arts therapies are used to facilitate individuals or groups to use the Arts, such as Music, Art, Dance and Drama to help manage their well-being.
Somethings are just too difficult to talk about or we don’t know where to start, so we can use expressive therapies to help us manage and communicate about our feelings.
Sessions take place weekly, during the session you may wish to play a variety of the wonderful instruments on offer, you may prefer to draw, write or talk about how you feel, and we can use the arts to help illustrate those feelings, or you may even wish just to relax whilst the therapist plays music to you.
I have been working on the Rowde Campus for many years, and helped pupils to grow in confidence and learn strategies to cope with difficult situations. I rely on good communication with the home and school setting, and advocate for the pupils I work with.
Following several years working with individuals and groups as a music therapist at the Trowbridge campus, I started working with groups across all campuses in 2022, developing a project called SILVERWOOD CREATES MUSIC.
The main focus is on original music creation, recording and live performance whilst helping develop the music provision at Rowde as the school goes through significant transition. I also continue to run music therapy group sessions.