A holistic approach to voice therapy.

TitleA holistic approach to voice therapy.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2005
AuthorsStemple J
JournalSemin Speech Lang
Volume26
Issue2
Pagination131-7
Date Published2005 May
ISSN0734-0478
KeywordsHolistic Health, Humans, Phonation, Phonetics, Pulmonary Ventilation, Respiration, Self Care, Sound Spectrography, Speech-Language Pathology, Voice Disorders, Voice Quality, Voice Training
Abstract

Therapy approaches designed to improve the disordered voice may be equally effective when used to enhance the normal voice. A holistic approach to voice therapy is based on a continuum of voice wellness from the disordered voice to the elite voice of the healthy performer. Individuals take charge of the wellness of their voices by following good principles of vocal hygiene and exercising the vocal mechanism in a healthful manner. All voices may be improved on this continuum toward the ideal. When voice therapy techniques attend to the three subsystems of voice production, respiration, and phonation and resonance, the techniques fall into the category of holistic voice therapies. Vocal Function Exercises is one holistic voice therapy approach that has been found to be effective in improving those with voice disorders and enhancing the normal voice. This article introduces the concept of holistic voice therapy and describes the specific Vocal Function Exercise Program.

DOI10.1055/s-2005-871209
Alternate JournalSemin Speech Lang
PubMed ID15918138