Voice Movement Therapy
"Voice Movement Therapy with Denise helped me touch into my deepest yearnings and the root of what's holding me back. I was able to access layers that I didn't even know were there." -Sarah, Client
Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) is an expressive arts therapy that centers voice and vocalization as the main tools of self-discovery and reflection. It combines somatic awareness with the creative process through a therapeutic lens. Through voicework, breathwork, movement, active imagination, songwriting, dreamwork, and drawing people are invited to explore and relate to their patterns and stuck places in ways that allow for deeper listening, understanding and integration. I like to think of it as "back door" mindfulness, an opportunity to get to the places we can't on our own. No two sessions are the same and no experience of singing is necessary. Just a willingness to be curious.
Our body is our instrument for life; our voice is an expression of that instrument. Everything that
happens in our minds and in our bodies is also expressing itself in our voice, in our capacity and agency to make sound, express and communicate. Throughout life we all experience traumas, some big and some small. These experiences can impact our body's natural ability to express life with freedom, fluidity and ease. VMT offers space to explore our voice's hidden patterns with playfulness, curiosity and courage.
"Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) was conceived by Englishman Paul Newham, based on the pioneering methods of vocal facilitator Alfred Wolfsohn and influenced by the theatre work of actor and director Roy Hart; the acoustical analysis of otolaryngologist Dr Paul Moses; the characterological bodywork of Wilhelm Reich; and the psychological principles of C.G. Jung. It is the first in-depth Expressive Therapy which employs the human voice as its main modality and is readily communicable
to people of different cultures and backgrounds. It is both creative and therapeutic in that it requires an exploration of oneself and one’s issues through the contours of the voice and through the creative enactment of one’s personal story in movement and song. " -International Association of Voice Movement Therapy
Is Voice Movement Therapy Right For Me?
adapted from iavmt.org
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I want to connect to desire and express my whole self.
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I would like to explore voice as a way of looking at different stuck places, emotional patterns & parts of myself.
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I want to find space to breathe.
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I am tired of being silent/silenced and want to reclaim my voice.
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I feel that working through trauma in an embodied and envoiced way would be valuable to me.
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I have emotional / psychological patterns around my voice and would like to find diversity, authenticity & power in my acoustic as well as my metaphorical voice.
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I want to have a more loving relationship with my body and myself.
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I want to be able to connect with others in a meaningful way.
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I've tried other therapies and haven't had success transforming patterns.