Myofunctional Therapy, Breathing Re-education, Buteyko, and Specialist Speech and Language Therapy in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands.
Breathe First
Functional breathing and proper oral function underpin our health, growth, and nervous system regulation.
Breathe First brings breathing re-education and Myofunctional Therapy alongside Speech and Language Therapy to improve outcomes for our patients' wellbeing and communication.
- Treating adults and children
- Initial assessment in person
- Online therapy sessions
Meet the team
Friendly Treatment
I’m Emily, the Owner and Lead Clinician at Breathe First with over 20 years of experience as a Speech and Language Therapist, dedicating the last 5 years to Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders and breath Re-Education.
I pride myself on a high quality of patient care, with trust at the centre of the therapeutic relationship.
Emily Kirkcaldy
SALT OMT BBM
I’m Holly, a clinician at Breathe First. I have over 10 years of experience as a Speech and Language Therapist, and I am also trained in movement therapy and orofacial myofunctional disorders.
Holly Maya Greenwood
What We Offer
Conditions / Concerns We Treat
Speech
Speech sound production (articulation, phonology and motor speech disorders), voice disorders, stammering
Mouth Breathing
Breathing / Low Oral Tone day and/or night with the mouth open and lips parted.
Tongue Tie / Oral restriction
Breathing day and/or night with the mouth open and lips parted.
Sleep Disordered Breathing
Breathing day and/or night with the mouth open and lips parted.
Tongue
Thrust
When the tongue pushes forwards into or through the teeth to swallow- forces affecting dentition and much more.
Thumb sucking and habit remediation
Thumb sucking, dummy or bottle over-use , lip or cheek biting.
Sensory
Integration
Supporting brain and body functions to work together for better function.
Malocclusion / Orthodontic Retention
Jaw Discomfort and TMJD
Feeding
Oral preparatory phase of chewing/swallowing.
What we offer
Myofunctional Therapy
Neurological re-education and re-patterning of the oral, facial and oropharyngeal (back of the throat) muscles. It consists of a series of customised exercises, to educate the muscles of the face and mouth to restore their proper function.
We work with both adults and children to help correct function.
Buteyko Breathing
Learn the principles of functional breathing, and practise Buteyko Breathing techniques to achieve functional nasal breathing.
This service is offered as part of Myofunctional Therapy or Speech Therapy, when required.
Corporate Training & Consultation
Workplace wellness workshops- targeted to the needs of your workforce.
Awareness training sessions for Speech and Language and Dental Practices, as well as within Educational settings.
Second opinions and supervIsion to Speech and Dental Professionals
Specialist Speech Therapy
Targeted speech and oromotor therapy for clearer speech, improved feeding and better sensory integration for children.
Articulation, fluency and voice work for children and adults, alongside breath work and Myofunctional Therapy.
What Patients Say
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Excellent service. Thorough and detailed assessment. Top quality coaching to learn the myofunctional exercises I required. I have personally noticed reduced TMJ pain as well as improved digestion.
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Emily has been and continues to be a monumental help to my child who has complex needs and suffers with a jaw that has locked. We were told he needed surgery to fix it and with Emily's help he's managing to open it once again and begin to learn how to use it again , with hopefully no need for surgery. He immediately took to Emily and trusted her which has meant he's had the most out of all her sessions. She's also helped hugely with his communication.
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My 6 year old son has been struggling with proper nasal breathing since birth due to posterior tongue tie. Emily has been very helpful to identify the root causes of the problem and set out a clear plan of action for myofunctional therapy. She has been very engaging with my son, showing patience, understanding and appreciation when appropriate. Since the therapy there has been a marked improvement in my son's tongue posture and ability to move his tongue correctly. I have also noticed a positive change of behaviour due to him getting a more rested sleep. I'm really pleased with the results so far and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Emily!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I took my 2.5 year old to see Emily and I left feeling so relieved to finally have some answers and solutions to what has been causing a multitude of issues for my son. Emily made her session fun, engaging and child friendly and was very thorough with her assessment! We have age appropriate games to play with my son to help work on what he needs to and I feel like we're finally on the right tracks to helping him after finding Emily online - thank you!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily has been amazing with helping my daughter with her speech, tongue function and nasal breathing. We have seen great progress by following Emily's fun but effective exercises. She goes above and beyond and I couldn't recommend her more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm a professional singer and vocal coach and have been working with Emily for a couple of months due to having a tongue tie. I'm part way through my treatment and am already sleeping more deeply than I ever have in my life, and falling asleep much more quickly than I used to. I'm experiencing less pain in my neck/jaw, my singing voice is fatiguing less, and my tongue literally looks different now because it is so much stronger! After years of struggling, it feels amazing to be working with someone who understands and to see these improvements after such a short time. My confidence has improved so much that I have said yes to 2 new singing projects that I previously wouldn't have felt capable of doing. Highly recommended!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Working with Emily has been one of the best investments I've ever made in myself.
I originally approached Emily to help with some TMJ pain I'd had for a number of years. From the very first meeting we had, it was clear she was an expert in all things myo, and explained that a tongue tie was likely contributing to my issues.
Initially we had weekly sessions to work through various exercises tailored to me, and Emily has always been really clear about why we're doing particular things, and will adapt to my needs too.
The differences I've noticed from myo with Emily have been huge - along with my TMJ disappearing, I'm breathing better, sleeping better, looking better and even my posture has improved!
Emily was also able to recommend other experts to help on my journey, and joined me a couple of weeks ago for my tongue tie release procedure.
This has been a transformational experience for me, and I'd encourage anyone thinking about myo to work with Emily - the range of benefits of myo are huge, and Emily is one of the kindest, most well-informed and all-round lovely people I've worked with.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We rate Emily highly! Emily is organised and thorough when it comes to her assessment’s and report’s. Therapy sessions with Emily are always very informative. Emily is professional but also kind and patient. Myofunctional therapy has made a big difference to my son in a short space of time.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily was friendly and gave me excellent advice and guidance on my swallowing problem including holistic remedies I could adopt. I highly recommend Emily.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily is an extremely skilled therapist. Her service has been excellent, she has gone above and beyond to help me to reduce tension and increase function in my tongue, lips and jaw for singing and better sleep, and provide vital support before and after a frenectomy procedure. She has also helped with my son who has oromyofunctional difficulties and has a lovely manner with children too. I would recommend her to anyone wanting to feel in good hands and to breathe, sleep, speak, live better.
You are in good hands
Breathe First's teams have over 20 Years of experience in SALT, AOMT & Buteyko Breathing.
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We are here to help
Life is busy and that is why we are flexible with providing therapy online. Typically we ask for a initial face-to-face consultation.
Online
consultation available
Face to face
clinic available
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