Singing The Psyche-Uniting Thought and Feeling Through the Voice

The purpose of this book is to provide a basic understanding of Voice Movement Therapy and how it uses both spontaneous vocalization and the creation and performance of song, integrated with active body movement, to increase expressive and communicative skills and to strengthen one's sense of self. Chapter One presents an overview of its history and core principles, and Chapters Two through Six provide articles by various practitioners to give the reader a sense of how they work, both with clients and students and for themselves, in ways that follow a basic set of principles, yet differ widely in accordance with the nature of the individual or group, the practitioner, and the cultural and socio-economic conditions of each encounter. Some of these articles reaffirm the past work of founder Paul Newham who, taking inspiration from the Alfred Wolfsohn/Roy Hart tradition of extended voicework, established a more specifically psychotherapeutically oriented vocal discipline and worked with individuals with special needs, students of voice, and performers. Other articles show how this work has been extended to new populations: those experiencing mental and physical illness and addiction and abuse, displacement and alienation, hidden disabilities, the need for formal mediation and conflict resolution, and transitioning into motherhood pre- and post-partum. Several others illustrate how the therapeutic component of the voice lesson has been broadened and deepened. In all instances, the aim of the editors has been to present a framework within which practitioners may tell their own stories in their own voices. The final chapter addresses ways in which we see this work going forward. It will be of interest, both in the United States and internationally, to professionals such as therapists, counselors, teachers of singing, teachers of speech and drama, speech-language pathologists, academic institutions that have courses in the creative arts therapies, conservatories for music and drama, and parents and parent organizations, especially those for children with both special needs and hidden disabilities.