IVT Training Workshops
The Integrated Voice Therapy approach has literally integrated established voice therapy techniques with latest developments from the sciences of kinaesiology, psychotherapy, affective neuroscience and learning theory, extending the specialist field of Voice Therapy to include a broader interdisciplinary and humanistic approach.
As of 2023, the workshops are being offered as synchronous online webinars in both Greek and English. For speech therapists, the complete training is separated into 3 levels, as 2-day workshops. For singers and voice coaches, the complete training is done over 2 levels, as one 2-day and one 3-day workshop respectively. Participants need to complete each previous level of training in order to progress to the next level. No previous experience with voice patients is required for participation in the workshops, we start everything from scratch!
Participants are limited to 12, thus ensuring ample practice time for each participant during both individual and group exercises. Recordings of the practice exercises during each workshop is offered to the trainees as a means of practicing on their own before progressing to the next workshop level.
Who are the workshops for?
- The training workshops are addressed to those who want to develop as voice experts, with explicit techniques for effortless and efficient control of the voice mechanism.
- The workshops are for all those voice enthusiasts thirsting for deep and holistic scientific understanding of the human voice.
- They are aimed at those who are attracted to the specialty of voice therapy and are interested in developing their expertise by experiencing a journey into the fascinating world of voice with a holistic, experiential approach to scientific training.
What is taught in the workshops?
The specialized training workshops of Integrated Voice Therapy techniques are unique in Europe and are offered with live and online workshops. Their object is the training of speech therapists and voice specialists (singers, voice coach, singers, ENT doctors, acting teachers, etc.) in the mechanical control of the voice, while also involving training from the fields of psychotherapy, neurophysiology, learning theory and movement sciences
Training as an Integrated Voice Therapist involves consideration of the person as a complex integration of processes at all levels of the mind-body-emotion synergy. Resolution of vocal difficulties needs to consider each of these levels.
At the level of the BODY, we consider the physical aspects of the voice disorder. We evaluate each part of the vocal mechanism and develop specific, practical techniques for mechanical mastery of each part of the vocal mechanism. The final result of this training means that voice production becomes predictable and the person who masters the techniques is rewarded with a sense of absolute control over how the voice feels and sounds, for any voicing endeavor. The patient / learner is able to fully monitor the physical sensations associated with voicing and achieves mastery by evaluating and efficiently redirecting the voice mechanism towards predetermined vocal targets. The practical techniques for mechanical control of the vocal mechanism are founded on Jo Estill’s and Alison Bagnal’s Voicecraft approach to voice training.
At the level of the MIND, we consider how habits are created and maintained. We use targeted strategies from the scientific field of learning theories to develop specific processes for teaching the techniques to patients and voice students. We learn how to troubleshoot and overcome all the multi-level difficulties that the developing voice specialist experiences when trying to teach these new techniques to patients and/or voice learners.
At the level of EMOTIONS, we consider developments from the scientific field of affective neuroscience that guide our understanding of the interplay between emotions, the subconscious and habits. We approach emotions and the way they are involved in voicing and voice training from both the patient’s/learner’s and the therapist’s position. We consider how paramount it is to integrate guided consideration of the emotional parameters involved with voice for effective, long-term understanding and expertise in safe and efficient voice techniques.
How can the techniques be applied?
The techniques developed during the seminars can be applied by anyone seeking to understand and control the vocal mechanism. In the therapeutic context, they can be applied to people with voice disorders from various organic or functional difficulties of the laryngeal mechanism, such as swelling, nodules, polyps, paresis / paralysis of the vocal cords, asymmetry of movement, vocal fatigue, difficulty projecting the voice or insufficient intensity. The same techniques are also applied to other disorders such as oral motor disorders, flow disorders, dysarthria, nasality difficulties (clefts, functional hypernasality) and certain neurological problems (e.g. Parkinson’s disease, etc.).
Other voice specialists such as singers, singing teachers, actors, choir directors, laryngologists, etc. and anyone involved with training voice skills also benefit from this training. When science meets the art of voicing , then the voice can be most safely and efficiently crafted to produce any voice, without the fear of trauma or loss of vocal control!