Our Team

Matt Thomson BSc-Physio, BSc-Hum.Mvt, DipEd (Managing Director)

Matt originally attained a Bachelor of Science in Human Movement at the University of WA, followed by a Diploma of Education (Physical Education). This formed the foundation of Matt’s interest into injury management and physical rehabilitation, which he further developed with a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy. Matt expresses a keen interest in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal pain and sporting injuries, with swimming, golf and football being his passion areas.

Aleece Edmunds

Aleece has completed a Masters of Physiotherapy degree at Curtin University as well as a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science and Post Graduate Diploma in Exercise Rehabilitation at the University of Western Australia. This combination of study means Aleece can address injuries and treatment with a holistic approach – from diagnosis and initial treatment to the acute and long term exercise rehabilitation. Aleece enjoys treating a range of conditions and has developed a strong interest in musculoskeletal and sporting injuries. She uses a combination of manual therapy, dry needling and exercise rehabilitation to achieve individual patient goals.

Aleece currently works at Victoria Physiotherapy Group treating patients and taking Pilates classes four days a week. She is also the current Head Physiotherapist at Swan Districts Football Club (WAFL) giving her excellent experience in the assessment, treatment and management of a large variety of musculoskeletal and sporting injuries.

Loretta Lee

Loretta completed a Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy) from Curtin in 1997 and spent 10 months as a new graduate working in a rural setting at Carnarvon Regional Hospital (WA). Following that she returned to Singapore and spent 2 years working in private hospital settings gaining extensive experience in paediatrics, geriatrics and Women’s Health.

In 2000, she returned to Perth and undertook post grad studies at UWA graduating in 2001 with Masters in Musculoskeletal Studies. Following that she spent 7 years in a private rehabilitation clinic with the main focus on musculoskeletal rehabilitation before joining VPG in 2009

Loretta has also undergone training in Clinical Pilates and Anatomical Acupuncture.

Elesha Mcfarlane (Director of Clinical Exercise)

Elesha completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Curtin University in 2000, graduating with distinction. Following graduation, Elesha gained a wide range of experience working at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. In 2002, Elesha traveled to the United Kingdom and worked in both London and in Northern Ireland, gaining valuable knowledge from colleagues abroad. On return, Elesha entered into private practice and quickly developed a strong interest in Pilates. She completed a year long qualification encompassing both mat based exercises and studio Pilates using the reformer, trapeze table and wunda chair.

Elesha has also undertaken further training in Anatomical Acupuncture and Women’s Health. Elesha is an accredited practitioner in the Sarah Key method. This has provided an excellent framework for treatment, often employing the use of the heel to mobilise the lumbar and thoracic spines. Her specialist areas include the lumbar spine, the cervical spine and prevention of pain through exercise.

Michelle Smith

Michelle has been practicing Physiotherapy since graduating from Curtin University in 2000. Prior to this she completed a Bachelor of Physical Education, with a focus in athletic therapy and exercise physiology, from Brock University in Canada. Michelle has gained valuable knowledge and experience working in both hospital and private practice settings in Canada and Australia.

Michelle has finally found her passion in private practice and during the last 4 years she has pursued her studies completing her Clinical Pilates Level 1 & 2 qualification as well as becoming certified with the Anatomical Acupuncture Foundation of Canada. Michelle has a special interest in core rehabilitation, as well as shoulder and neck injuries. As a keen athlete herself, Michelle has become actively involved in Swim Smooth, assisting and educating athletes, particularly triathletes, in the assessment and management of sporting injuries. If you would like to learn more about Swim Smooth please visit; www.swimsmooth.com

Lara Koay

Lara spent her younger years training and competing in the national club gymnastics arena. Having experienced first hand many sport injuries she chose to pursue a career in sports injury rehabilitation. Her formal training included a Bachelor in Exercise Physiology at UWA followed by Graduate Entry Masters in Physiotherapy at Curtin in 2003. During her education, she worked in local fitness clubs personal training as well as coaching junior gymnastics.

Moving to Sydney, in 2003 Lara worked as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist in private practice, helping people with acute and chronic injuries. Her clients ranged from professional rugby players, dancers, to people with neurological conditions.
Lara completed a Diploma in Pilates Rehabilitation in 2008 before returning to Perth in 2010. Lara brings to VPG her expertise in core stability and neuromuscular training for sports injury or post-op recovery and a growing interest in women’s health in particularly pre and postpartum.

Melinda Byrne

Melinda graduated from Curtin University in 1994 and has since worked almost exclusively in the field of musculoskeletal physiotherapy both in Australia and the UK. She has been teaching clinical pilates since 2007 and has training in the Polestar Pilates method. She has a particular interest in dry needling, myofascial therapy and core stability training for rehabilitation of kinds of musculoskeletal problems.

Karlee Cannon

Karlee attained a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy at Curtin University, graduating in 2004 with distinction. Upon graduating, Karlee started immediately in private practice physiotherapy and has done ongoing training in Pilates, Acupuncture and Women’s Health physiotherapy. Karlee is enthusiastic about injury prevention and management, for both sporting and work-related injuries. She is focused on active treatment and exercise rehabilitation, and aims to include every client as a part of their own recovery.

Charlotte Elliott

Charlotte graduated from Curtin University in 2016 and previously completed a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science through Edith Cowan University. She enjoys treating a range of different conditions with keen interests in musculoskeletal injuries, sports and women’s health.  She takes pride in helping people to return from injury, prevent injuries and uses a combination of manual therapy and exercise to get the best results.

Charlotte has completed a Cert IV in Pilates and attends pilates regularly herself.  She has a background in both dance and gymnastics and is currently the head trainer at the Perth Football Club where she helps to prevent, treat and return athletes to play post injury.

Michelle Ho

Michelle graduated with a degree in Exercise and Health Science before going on to complete a Graduate Entry Masters of Physiotherapy in 2012. Since then she has gained a vast amount of experience in many aspects of Physiotherapy, working in hospitals and private practices in Perth and regional Victoria.

Michelle has a special interest in Orthopaedic conditions and rehabilitation as well as dance related injuries and conditioning. She finds that incorporating Clinical Pilates into physiotherapy treatment and rehabilitation is extremely beneficial. Michelle also believes in promoting a healthy lifestyle to all age groups and always ensures that each of her patients are achieving the best possible results.

Michelle loves dancing and in her spare time loves going for trail runs and hiking.

Soo Whan Park

Soo Whan completed a Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy) at Sydney University in 2013. Since then, Soo Whan has experience in working beside experienced manual therapists and has adopted a high level of skill of manual therapy and precise exercise prescription in managing a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.

Soo Whan has a particular interest in treating and managing chronic conditions, particularly of the shoulder and lower back. He enjoys working together with the patient to understand and work out the main underlying driver for their condition to achieve the best results for them.

Soo Whan has spent many years playing various sports, particularly soccer and basketball, even having his own fair share of injuries over the years. Currently, he is studying Masters of Clinical Sports Physiotherapy at Curtin University.

Linda McKeon

Linda completed Physiotherapy at Curtin University in 2000 and a Bachelor of Business at Curtin in 1991. Since becoming a Physiotherapist, Linda has worked in both Private Practice and the hospital setting, first in Bunbury, then Karratha and now Perth. She has experience in treating sports and work-related injuries, pre and post-surgery rehabilitation and musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction.

Linda has used Clinical Pilates as a treatment and rehabilitation tool since 2002, and in 2019 repeated study of all levels with Dance Medicine Australia to gain Certification in this method. Furthermore, she is qualified in Dry Needling, having completed several courses in this subject and finds this to be a useful treatment for many injuries and pain conditions.

Previously a dancer, Linda has taught ballet and dance for the past 9 years and has a particular interest in treating and rehabilitating dance related injuries, and has experience with assessing for suitability for pointe work and tertiary entrance assessments.

Linda looks forward to working with clients to achieve optimum function in all aspects of life, work and sport.

Jessica Glover

Jess graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2016 with a double degree in Physiotherapy/Exercise & Sports Science. Since graduating Jess has worked in both hospital and private practice and most recently has spent 18 months working FIFO as an Injury Prevention Specialist/Physio for FMG at Cloudbreak mine. Jess has a passion for musculoskeletal physiotherapy, which lead her into working at a local WAFL club and amateur football team, both as a Sports Trainer and Physiotherapist. Jess gained valuable experience in musculoskeletal sporting injuries and exercise rehabilitation.

Jess treats a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions and is a qualified Clinical Pilates Instructor and has a keen interest in women’s health. She is a strong advocate for self-management and individualised exercise-based rehabilitation to treat the underlying causes of pain and injury to optimise function and help patients achieve their goals. Jess has also completed further training in Women’s health, Sports Physio, Occupational Physio and dry needling. Jess enjoys keeping fit, baking, spending time with family, friends and my puppy Betty.

Margo Malone

Margo graduated from Curtin University in 1988 and worked in a variety of physiotherapy settings including rehabilitation and chronic pain clinics as well as managing and working in her own private practices in the northern suburbs and in Victoria. More recently her physiotherapy experience and expertise, and interest in musculoskeletal injuries, has seen her consulting in injury management roles in the insurance and workers compensation industry. Presently Margo is also working in a local Victoria Park based, major WA engineering and mining company providing injury management, well being and injury prevention services.

She has a keen interest in chronic pain and its management and workers compensation injuries, promoting a collaborative approach to the recovery of work injuries and wellness of workers. When not working she enjoys spending time with family and friends and is a keen camper

Anna O’Loughlin

Anna completed her bachelor degree in Physiotherapy in 2017 and a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Medicine in 2021 from Trinity College Dublin. She has worked across hospital, private practice and community settings as well as pitch-side care in both Ireland and New Zealand. Through these roles she has gained experience treating pre- and post-surgical and musculoskeletal conditions; her area of specialty lies in sports-related injuries and concussion management. She uses a combination of manual therapy, dry needling and exercise rehabilitation to help her patient’s reach their goals.

She has specialised training in the management of mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) and vestibular rehabilitation to treat balance disorders, dizziness, vertigo and vestibular hypofunction.

Anna is also a Pilates instructor. Alongside full-time work Anna has worked with sports teams/athletes predominantly in Rugby, Gaelic Football, Hurling and Soccer. She loves to keep fit through running, gymnastics, dancing, weight-lifting and swimming. She loves when dancers and gymnasts come into the clinic. Anna has moved to Perth to live a more outdoorsy life and bring her fresh ideas to the clinic.

Samantha Frost

Sam graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy) in 2016. Since graduating Sam has been working at a private practice in the south west before returning to Perth. Sam has a keen interest in treating musculoskeletal conditions especially sporting injuries and low back pain. Sam has done additional training in clinical pilates, dry needling and strength and conditioning. In her free time Sam enjoys running, playing netball and going out for brunch.