Prof. Helen Odell-Miller OBE Profile

Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE

“The interaction between the talking and the music making […] the unique component in the music that made a change.”

Prof Helen Odell-Miller OBE is director of CIMTR and within this role she is the Principal Investigator of Homeside. She is in charge of the governance of the study, overseeing its delivery and dissemination. Prior to managing the UK team, she was involved in the original research design and bid. Having had a career of over forty years in clinical work and research and specifically working within the field of dementia, she was approached back in 2010 by the Chief Investigator of the study, Prof Felicity Baker and Prof Denise Grocke. They had been working on what Helen referred to as an “embryo” of Homeside. Helen had previously worked with Prof Felicity Baker, both of them sitting on the International Research Consortium for Music Therapy Research, which comprises of eight universities across the world which include established music therapy research.  

Helen’s day to day role includes managing the team, holding the budget and verifying data. She is also responsible for activating the online randomisation of dyads through the REDCAP system based at University of Melbourne, after the clinical trial managers have taken them through screening. As said by Helen she is “responsible for all different layers” of the study. She attends all of the international meetings associated with Homeside, as well as overseeing  team members’ individual roles. She has to verify data, check videos, and ensure fidelity across all the different interventions. Another significant role that Helen holds as Principal Investigator, is being a supervisor. She supervises the therapists delivering the reading and music interventions in a group, as well as PhD three  that the three interventionists are carrying out as part of their role in the research study.

A pioneer of the music therapy profession, Helen has been greatly involved in developing the field, being a awarded an OBE in 2016 for her services. She was part of a team who lobbied through the union and the NHS career structure for music therapists. This team had to propose that music therapy is a profession, and draft a document to get signatures to verify that there was enough research to validate the profession. The following passage details these pivotal moments in the professions history which Helen was involved in. The passage is taken from an article written by Helen in 2016 titled: The role, function and identity of music therapists in the 21st century, including new research and thinking from a UK perspective.  

“Prof. Leslie Bunt, the late Prof. Tony Wigram, and I, as representatives from the (then) Association of Professional Music Therapists, held meetings with the three heads of music therapy training courses Sybil Beresford Peirse (Nordoff Robbins), Juliette Alvin (Guildhall School of Music) and Elaine Streeter (Roehampton). This led to defining the basic elements needed for music therapy training in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, a new career structure with the Whitley Council was established, culminating the 1982 agreement. Later, in 1997, registration of music therapists became a legal requirement, with the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM) through the House of Lord bill, (Hansard, 1977), and subsequently in 2006, through the HCPC as our registration body.” (p.7)

Helen has also been central in her role at Anglia Ruskin University, co-founding the Masters Music Therapy training course in 1994 with Prof Amelia Oldfield. She has taught and supervised students on the course since then, as well as currently supervising ten PhD students who are completed their Music Therapy MPhil’s. Helen set up the music therapy clinic at the Jerome Booth Music Therapy Centre. The clinic is used throughout the week for sessions by music therapists.

Helen qualified as a music therapist in 1977 from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama after having completed a music degree at Nottingham University in 1976. She began her practice in the field of adult and child learning disabilities. Over three years she built up the learning disability service at Fulbourn Hospital and developed posts in the family service within the child development centre. After passing on her post to Prof Amelia Oldfield, she continued to work in adult mental health and family psychiatry, developing a specific interest in psychotherapy. When discussing her work in this field Helen shared her view on the balance between talking and playing within a music therapy session. “You have to try and understand the meaning of the music and the relationship, and what that means for them and how its important and then talking […] it’s all an approach.”

This work led to her enrolling herself in an MPhil at City University, where she worked with highly esteemed psychotherapists and psychiatrists to develop some of the psychodynamic theories that now inform music therapy practice. Her MPhil was focusing on Music Therapy and Dementia and was completed in 1989. Helen explained how her research led her to consider how a client and therapist are “able to connect through music making where improvisation could really adapt to their pace, but in quite a structured way.” She further went on to explain that during this time in music therapy “there were these new discoveries happening about the potential that music has for communication and for changing mood and for being very important for emotional and social life.” The undeniable benefit of music was being seen.

Her passion for research has been present throughout her career. In 2008 she completed her PhD titled: The Practice of Music Therapy for Adults with Mental Health Problems: the Relationship Between Diagnosis and Clinical Method. She has recently been part of formulating the Music and Dementia Strategy in the UK, which was launched at the House of Lords, London, in January 2018 and produced by the International Longevity Centre. Having been published extensively both nationally and internationally, Helen has demonstrated how invaluable music therapy research is, to ensure the profession continues to grow and prosper.