Understanding Voice Therapy

Voice therapy is one type of a broader set of speech and language therapies that are administered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Voice therapy is one of the three main tools (along with surgical treatments and medications) that physicians use to treat voice disorders.

The decision to start voice therapy and the timing and design of the voice therapy program depend on both the type and severity of a patient's voice disorder. Voice therapy may be recommended before and/or after surgical treatment, depending on the patient's needs.

A voice therapist provides voice therapy. A voice therapist is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) with voice as an area of concentration.

Note: There is no separate set of qualifications for SLPs practicing voice therapy. These professionals are simply speech-language pathologists who have chosen to focus on voice therapy as an area of concentration. They are therefore often known simply as voice therapists (or vocal therapists).

Approximately 500 members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) have expressed a particular interest in voice therapy, as evidenced by their membership in ASHA's Special Interest Division (SID-3, Voice and Voice Disorders).

Speech-language pathologists must meet very specific requirements to be licensed. These requirements are:

• Minimum of a master's degree in speech therapy including completion of a seminar or class in voice or professional voice care
• Clinical fellowship year which includes:
  • Clinical training under the supervision of a practicing speech-language pathologist who maintains a certificate of clinical competency
  • Practice in a university, hospital, rehabilitation facility, or in a private practice
• Passing grade on a national exam, in order to earn a certificate of clinical competency
• In 38 states, continuing education credits in order to maintain clinical licensure

In addition, speech-language pathologists are required to attend national and regional conferences and seminars to remain knowledgeable about current issues related to voice disorders.

There are important distinctions between voice therapists and singing teachers.

Increasingly, singing teachers have become members of the voice care team, along with voice specialists such as laryngologists and voice therapists. These individuals are referred to as singing voice specialists. They focus mainly on helping to rehabilitate singers' voices in tandem with the other professional caregivers on the voice care team. (For more information, see Voice Care Team.)

In addition, the number of certified speech-language pathologists is growing. These professionals also have professional voice training, making them particularly well suited for treating singers with voice disorders.

Voice therapy plays a major role in the treatment for voice disorders.

• Key role in rehabilitation after surgery
• Key role in preventing the recurrence of voice disorder
• Often used in combination with medications, surgery, and/or psychiatric intervention
• For certain conditions, can sometimes be the only treatment that can successfully rehabilitate the voice
• For certain conditions, can be the first-line intervention – if voice therapy yields adequate improvement of voice and/or resolution of the voice disorder, surgery may no longer be required.

Key Information

Voice Therapy – Still Growing as a Discipline

Despite the acceptance of voice therapy among voice professionals and its increasingly widespread use, there is no specific agreement among therapists about the effectiveness of specific treatment techniques, the exact timing of when they should be applied, or when voice therapy should be started or stopped.

Limitations of Voice Therapy

It is important to point out that voice therapy alone may not return the voice to normal in all cases.

Highlights

Guidelines