About the Clinic

In 2014, speech and language therapist Ines Halvorsen founded Hibiki Speech at 18 Linden Row in Westmere. Having worked across hospital wards and busy community centres, she envisioned a calm, independent clinic where therapy would never feel rushed or clinical. She designed Hibiki Speech around a fundamental premise: communication develops best when people feel completely safe and unhurried. From our second-floor rooms, we welcome young children taking their first steps into spoken words, alongside adults regaining language after life-changing neurological events. Over the years, our clinic has grown into a collaborative team of seven professionals, yet our founding spirit remains unchanged. We do not use generic exercises or rigid worksheets. Instead, we listen closely to how each individual speaks in everyday moments, crafting personal support that fits naturally into family life, school, or daily work.

Every therapy session at Hibiki Speech lasts forty-five minutes, which we have found to be the ideal duration for sustained concentration without exhaustion. Communication demands significant mental and emotional energy, particularly for a toddler exploring new sounds or an adult recovering after a stroke. Shorter sessions often end just as a client begins to settle, while longer appointments can lead to vocal strain and fatigue. Just as crucially, every client works with the same therapist across their entire block of therapy. You will never arrive to find an unfamiliar clinician who has to skim through historical case notes. Your therapist gets to know your subtle hesitations, your genuine interests, and the exact communication hurdles you encounter during the week. This consistency fosters deep trust, eliminating the anxiety of repeatedly explaining your difficulties and enabling steady, meaningful progress.

Our therapy rooms are intentionally peaceful and uncluttered, filled with morning light from large windows looking onto Linden Row. Rather than sterile examination suites, we have created warm, domestic environments finished in light oak and soft neutral tones. For our youngest visitors, low wooden tables and comfortable floor mats allow therapy to take place at eye level through play. Adults sit comfortably at window-side tables where conversation feels natural, with tea close at hand and space for personal reading materials. A mirror wall is tucked discreetly into one room to help clients observe vocal posture and mouth shapes without feeling self-conscious. In the corner, a comfortable sofa lets parents observe their child with complete ease. Every corner of our clinic is arranged to remove pressure and make speech feel welcome.

We welcome both children and adults. For young families, we support toddlers from age two who are late to talk, school-age children working through speech sound difficulties, young people who stammer, and autistic children learning picture-based communication systems. For adults, our practice focuses on rehabilitation following a stroke, navigating word-finding difficulties and aphasia, alongside stammering management and vocal care for professional voice users such as teachers and performers. Whether speech has suddenly vanished following a medical emergency or has been an ongoing hurdle since early childhood, we provide compassionate, skilled guidance. We work collaboratively with families, carers, and educators, ensuring that communication gains made during clinic sessions translate seamlessly into the noisy, practical realities of homes, classrooms, and workplaces.