Meet Carey
Carey Bellino, MA CCC-SLP
Accent Management Coach, Speech Language Pathologist
Communication impacts all aspects of our lives. It is also a teachable skill at any age! I apply methods from my background in speech-language pathology to help people produce the sounds and intonation of the mainstream North American English communication style. Using evidence from research in the areas of adult learning, language, neuroscience, social cognition, and counseling, I guide my clients toward their goals of being more effective communicators. I would love to help you communicate your ideas so that people listen.
Please explore the details of my background and skills below, and contact me to book a free consultation.
Biography
I’m a native English speaker who has faced the challenges of living abroad, learning a new language, and improving my accent to communicate successfully. I’ve experienced first-hand the frustration and reluctance to communicate; the feeling of being misunderstood, of having to repeat myself, feeling judged by my accented speech, and having native speakers interrupt. As a result, I’ve utilized my training as a speech-language pathologist to improve my own accent, and gained confidence in my interactions while living abroad. The joy I experienced enhancing my own accent provides me with a unique perspective on training accents in the mainstream American English style.
I hold a Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and have been helping non-native speakers of English improve their communication for over 15 years. I’ve studied speech sound production, language development and phonetics, and the physics of sound. During my academic and clinical training, I received structured supervision in the area of accent modification through the International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Program, where I trained ESL teaching assistants to communicate more effectively in front of their classrooms. Other real-word skills addressed included: improving self-awareness, creating interactive lectures, describing visuals, leading discussions, dealing with difficult situations and managing communication breakdowns.
In addition to my work with the ITA program, I’ve also facilitated numerous accent modification groups and provided individual training to international professionals. I’ve worked with a large variety of foreign accents including: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, as well as various Spanish and Indian accents, with a focus on improving vocational success, educational advancement, independence in activities of daily living, and successful social situations. Later in my career I joined the team of clinical instructors in the graduate program at Emerson College’s Communication Sciences and Disorders Program. There, I supervised graduate students working with English language learners in the Accent Lab.
I’m the owner of Upward Communication in the Boston/metro west area, specializing in corporate communication skills and accent management.
Education:
M.A. Speech Language Pathology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
B.S. Communication Disorders from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Licenses:
Massachusetts Department of Education
Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Language Pathology 2008 – present