Clinical Leadership — Sam Bowman, Clinical Director
BSc (UCL), MRCSLT, MASLTIP | RCSLT Giving Voice Award Winner
Sam Bowman, Clinical Director
BSc (UCL), MRCSLT, MASLTIP | RCSLT Giving Voice Award Winner
Being heard is not incidental to recovery. It is foundational.
Sam has spent over 25 years doing work she genuinely loves — helping people find their voice again after neurological injury, and supporting the families who love them through one of the most disorienting experiences of their lives.
She graduated from University College London in 2000 and founded Talkabout in 2012, driven by a belief that people with complex communication and swallowing needs deserve support that is both clinically excellent and deeply human. That belief still shapes everything the service does today.
Sam's clinical expertise spans a wide range of neurological conditions — including traumatic and acquired brain injury, stroke, hypoxic brain injury, prolonged disorders of consciousness, Huntington's disease, progressive neurological conditions and dementia. She has particular expertise in neurobehavioural communication presentations, capacity-related communication support, and advanced dysphagia and tracheostomy management, and works regularly within case-managed and medico-legal rehabilitation pathways. She also has extensive experience supporting individuals where neurological, physical and mental health diagnoses intersect — where complexity is layered and a joined-up, whole-person approach is essential.
She was an early pioneer of telehealth in speech and language therapy, and founded The Communication Café to make specialist support more accessible to those who might otherwise go without. Her work expanding remote rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic was recognised with an RCSLT Giving Voice Award — one of the most respected honours in the profession.
Sam has also established dysphagia services for hospitals and healthcare organisations, trained large teams across care and rehabilitation settings, and is a regular voice at national events. She works closely with universities and the RCSLT to support the next generation of therapists.
Sam leads a highly experienced team of speech and language therapists and therapy assistants, whose expertise spans the full range of neurological presentations — from acute settings through to long-term community support and return to work.
Most of all, Sam believes that every person she works with — however complex their needs, however long the road — deserves to feel heard, understood and genuinely supported. As a person, not just a patient.
From colleagues who work alongside Sam.
I have had the pleasure of working closely with Sam, supporting many individuals following acquired brain injury, for over five years. Sam is a highly compassionate and caring clinician with extensive expertise. She combines clinical excellence with a warm, person-centred, and empowering approach and is an integral member of any interdisciplinary team. Sam is a skilled communicator with clients, families, and colleagues alike, and her collaborative style, openness, and kindness make her an asset to both the individuals she supports and the professionals she works alongside.
I have worked with Sam with a diverse client cohort with varying needs. Sam is always quick to develop rapport, understand the needs of the client and innovative in delivery of inputs and treatment plans. She is a solid member of any team and advocates strongly for clients she supports. She is a skilled therapist and I frequently recommend her to colleagues.
I've had the pleasure of working with Sam for the past couple of years and have always been impressed by her professionalism, responsiveness, and the high standard of her work. She genuinely cares about the people she supports, regularly goes above and beyond for her clients, and brings warmth, compassion, and real passion to everything she does. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her.
A team of more than twenty specialists.
Talkabout is a practice, not a one-person service. Sam leads, but the work is shared across an experienced specialist team.