Dr Alexandra Georgaki

Courses taught:

• Music Therapy (Postgraduate)
• Dramatherapy (Postgraduate)

Alexandra is Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy and Dramatherapy and the Clinical Placement Coordinator for ARU’s MA Music Therapy. Her areas of expertise include music therapy with people with learning disabilities, autism, brain injury, family music therapy, phenomenological enquiries and video analysis. Alongside her role with Cambridge School of Creative Industries, Alexandra is also a member of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR).

Connect with Alexandra on LinkedIn

[email protected]

Background

Alexandra trained as a music therapist at Anglia Ruskin University. Since 2005, she has been working as a music therapist in educational, hospital and community settings with adults, young people, children and their families gaining extensive clinical experiences. Alexandra has set up new clinical posts and has been supporting and supervising music therapy trainees for more than 15 years.

For her doctoral studies, Alexandra received a scholarship to study the development and use of shared histories in music therapy with young autistic children. She conducted video analysis and studied the cross-correlation between children’s engagement and therapists’ behaviours. For the qualitative part of her research, Alexandra conducted a phenomenological study to examine the music therapists’ perceptions of shared histories and their lived experiences while working with young autistic children. Alexandra is an experienced speaker, who has presented her work in national and international conferences. She has been part of music therapy randomised control trials carrying out various roles such as delivering music therapy, recruiting participants, offering parents’ advisory sessions and conducting treatment fidelity evaluations.

Alongside her academic role, Alexandra continues practicing as a music therapist in a setting with adolescents with severe and profound learning disabilities. Alexandra also offers clinical supervision in the UK and Greece.

Research interests

• Music therapy and autism
• Video analysis
• Family music therapy
• Music therapy processes
• Interdisciplinary collaborations
• Music and well-being

Teaching

Alexandra currently teaches on the following modules:

• Music Therapy and Dramatherapy Multi-Disciplinary Theoretical Studies
• Music Therapy Practical and Clinical Skills
• Clinical Placements and Experiential Development (1 & 2)
• MA Therapies Major Project

Qualifications

• PhD Music Therapy, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
• PGCert Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
• MA Music Therapy, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
• Diploma, Piano Performance and Counterpoint: Conservatorium "Mousiki Techni", Athens, Greece
• BA Education (Early Childhood), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member of British Association for Music Therapy
• Registered with Health and Care Professions Council
• Advisory editorial board of Approaches. An interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy

Selected recent publications

Ellinor, J., Georgaki, A., (2018) Collaborations and Transitions Between Schools and Arts Therapy Modalitie, in Oldfield A. and Carr M. (eds), Collaborations within and between dramatherapy and music therapy: experiences, challenges and opportunities in clinical and training contexts. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp.129-145.

Recent presentations and conferences

2023, “Video Analysis of Music Therapy Sessions with Autistic Children: Findings and Reflections”, 17th World Congress of Music Therapy, Vancouver, Canada.

2022, “Making Connections: Music Therapy with Families in a secondary school”, 1st Music Therapy and Families Symposium, Vienna, Austria.

2021, “Music Therapy Collaborations Within Special Education: How to maintain one's professional identity while developing through partnerships in the educational workplace.” (with Sophie Riga de Spinoza) BAMT Conference 2021, online.

2019 , “Shared stories and histories in Music Therapy with children and adolescents with learning difficulties.” ARU MA Music Therapy 25th Anniversary Conference, Cambridge, UK.

2016, “Redefining our roles - Parent counselling sessions offered alongside music therapy with children with autism” (with Laura Breucker,) 2016 BAMT conference, Glasgow, UK.

2015, “Speech and language therapy and music therapy: Using a collaborative approach to develop attention and communication skills in young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and learning disabilities” (with Helen Sunderland), CPLOL European Congress, Florence, Italy.