Dr Grace Thompson is a senior lecturer, researcher and registered music therapist. Dr Thompson completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2012 titled “Making a connection: randomised controlled trial of family centred music therapy for young children with autism spectrum disorder”.
The study investigated child and parent outcomes following home-based music therapy sessions with preschool-aged children with autism and their mothers. Dr Thompson has worked with children, young people and families for over 20 years within the early childhood intervention sector, as well as within special education settings. As music therapist and team leader, Dr Thompson developed a collaborative approach to music therapy practice with families guided by ecological theories and family-centred philosophy. Her music therapy practice and research is therefore underpinned by a desire to support parent-child relationships through participating in engaging and mutually enjoyable musical play activities. Dr Thompson’s post-doctoral research focuses on music therapy with children with autism, disability, and delivered within ecologically oriented strategies. Dr Thompson’s research expertise is in mixed methods studies that have a translational focus. She is the co-editor of “Music Therapy with Families: Therapeutic Approaches and Theoretical Perspectives”, was Keynote speaker at the 2014 National Australian Music Therapy Conference, and a Spotlight speaker at the 2014 World Federation of Music Therapy Congress in Krems, Austria. Dr Thompson is an Associate Editor for the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy.
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Grace Thompson's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Music Therapists' Perceptions of the Therapeutic Potentials Using Music When Working With Verbal Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Qualitative Analysis
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Projects
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Project Types
1
Internal Research Grant
1
Research Grant
Scholarly Works
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Keyword Analysis
News
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Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Honorary Life Member of the Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) in recognition of significant contribution to the profession.
Project title: Contemporary music therapy training: Designing best practice teaching and learning resources to develop clinical reasoning skills.
Term of President: August 2014 - August 2017
Ruth Bright award for excellence in conference presentations
Credentials
Positions
Senior Lecturer In Music (Music Therapy)
Melbourne Conservatorium Of Music
General Member
Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
General Member
Australian Society for Music Education (ASME)
General Member
ASfAR - Autism Research Community
General Member
Early Childhood Intervention Association
Registered Music Therapist
Australian Music Therapy Association
Education
University Teaching
University of Melbourne
Music Therapy
University of Melbourne
Music Therapy
University of Melbourne