In her formative years, Isabel pursued a Degree majoring in psychology with a minor in music. She furthered her education with a Masters in music therapy from the University of Queensland.

 

She is formally trained in piano and violin but is also proficient with instruments such as well as guitar, ukulele, drums and cello.

 

Isabel worked with a wide age group array demographics ranging from older adults in an aged-care home, to kids in a special school. Her work stints in Australia included the Down Syndrome Association Queensland (DSAQ), brain injury rehabilitation centre and mental health patients in an acute hospital wards. She also interned in Malaysia for kids with disabilities for 6 months. 

 

She practiced as private practitioner in Malaysia, helping kids with special needs in rehabilitation centres and delivering individual and group therapy treatments. She is a music educator for learning centres and music schools, instructing students on the application of various instruments.

 

Towards her later career, she worked with older adults diagnosed with dementia. She has been invited as a guest speaker in Help University College and has held workshops and talks to the allied health professionals as well as parents and volunteers handling kids with special needs. Isabel has also been interviewed by Leaderonomics, The Edge, The Star newspaper (under the Star Rage and Star Jobs section) as well as by students from SEGI, UCSI universities in Malaysia.

 

In Singapore, she has worked at St Luke’s hospital in Bukit Batok as the first Music Therapist since Sept 2018 to pioneer the profession in the community geriatric rehabilitation hospital. She contributes to individual, joint and group sessions with other therapists towards inpatient and outpatient services serving predominantly dementia, palliative, stroke, parkinsons, ortho, wound, and continuum care patients.

 

Being featured in Channel 8 twice, she has advocated the public on the importance of Music Therapy in particular the telerehab with Palliative care and using various Neurologic Music Therapy techniques for Parkinson’s patients. She has been the Clinical supervisor for Internship students internationally and has been the lead trainer for the course: "The Therapeutic Use of Music in Various Settings and Populations" to care staff from acute hospitals and Nursing homes.

 

Certifications

●      Registered Music Therapist

●      Neurologic Music Therapist Fellow

●      WSQ Advanced Certification in Learning and Performance (ACLP)

●      CITI NCSS Members:SBE research 

●      Principle-based Approach to Exercise Selection and Modification 

 

Conferences

●      Attended Australian Music Therapy Conference 2014

●      Attended Malaysian UPM Music Cares: Music Therapy and Autism Seminar 2015

●      Presented on Malaysian Music Cares Music Therapy Conference 2016 

●      Presented in “Understanding Connecting and Supporting Learners with Special Needs “Hand in Hand We Learn”

●      Attended Singapore Music Therapy Association Symposium 2019

●      Co-Presented in Australian Music Therapy Conference 2019 (virtual)

●      Presented in the 9th Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Symposium 2021 (virtual)

●      Presented in the 18th National Stroke Conference 2021 (Virtual)