Watch a video clip about resistance and the concept of the voice

**To View Upcoming Workshops in Voice Therapy Click Here**

If you are interested in finding a therapist who practices voice therapy or would like to receive training in voice therapy, please contact jina@glendon.org.

What is Voice Therapy?

Voice Therapy is a powerful technique that quickly taps into clients' core negative beliefs.  It is a process of identifying and eliciting negative thought patterns that are driving a person's maladaptive behavior. It is called Voice Therapy because clients learn to verbalize the negative thoughts they are aware of in the second person, as though another person were talking to them.  Shifting to this second person format brings to the surface the emotional content of these negative thoughts.  This also helps clients to separate their own point of view from the hostile point of view toward themselves.  It allows them to "take their own side" and identify the sources of these destructive cognitions which originated in traumatic attachment experiences.  Therapist and client then collaborate on suggestions for behavioral change.  This includes both resisting destructive acting out and increasing positive goal-directed behavior. 

How Was Voice Therapy Developed?
Voice Therapy was originally developed as a laboratory procedure to investigate how people defend themselves and to understand the structure and function of the negative thought process that underlies defensive, maladaptive behavior. It has also been used as a psychotherapeutic methodology that combines cognitive, affective, and behavioral components into an integrated treatment strategy.

The principal technique of Voice Therapy involves an individual’s verbalization of their negative thoughts in the second person format. Clients are asked to use “You” (rather than “I”) as though another person were addressing them. This methodology is important for two reasons: (1) this is the form in which most people think critically about themselves or experience negative internal dialogue (2) this technique usually brings out considerable affect, leading to meaningful emotional and intellectual insight.

Watch a video clip about the steps in Voice Therapy

What are the steps in the therapeutic process in Voice Therapy?
The techniques of voice therapy consist of three components: (1) eliciting and identifying negative thought patterns and releasing the associated affect; (2) discussing insights and exploring reactions to verbalizing the voice; and (3) counteracting self-destructive behaviors regulated by the voice through the application of appropriate corrective suggestions. In this phase of treatment, client and therapist attempt to interrupt maladaptive behavior patterns through collaborative planning and suggestions for behavioral change that are in accord with each individual’s personal motivation.

CE Credits:
Voice Therapy Training: Level 1 qualifies for 12 hours of continuing education credit.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply the comprehensive theoretical model underlying Voice Therapy, deepening your understanding of clients.
• Increase your knowledge of attachment theory, neurobiology and the impact of early experience on the development of destructive thought processes or "voices."
• Understand the need for interventions that access deep emotions for treating all types of trauma and unresolved loss.
• Integrate Voice Therapy techniques as an adjunct to your practice of psychotherapy to facilitate more positive treatment outcomes.
• Use the exercises provided to enhance clients' awareness of negative core beliefs and how their behavior is impacted by destructive thinking thereby facilitating change.
• Apply Voice Therapy to addiction, problems at work, depression and couple relationships.