Inside Rouse: What is Gender-Affirming Voice Coaching
Rouse Relational Wellness is committed to creating a shame free and nurturing space for all people seeking sex therapy and counseling. Last April, Rouse providers had a wonderfully unique experience to receive training from Speech Therapist Saskia Lilienfeld whose main focus is Gender Affirming Voice and Communication Therapy. To put it in her own words, Saskia describes her work as assisting individuals who “experience gender dysphoria around their voice or communication style to help them find their authentic voice that makes them feel at home in their voice, their expression, and their communication.” She also offers neurodiversity affirming voice and communication assistance as gender diverse clients and neurodiverse clients seems to overlap one another.
Pitch and Hormones
Saskia shares that typically one of the first things that come to mind a person thinks about voices and gender is the pitch. A person’s pitch is created by the vibrations caused by the vocal cords in the voice box. It’s often assumed that higher pitches are associated with femme voices and lower pitches are associated with masculine voices. A person who may want to masculinize their voice may take testosterone which would make their pitch deeper and they may feel affirmed and completely satisfied by this outcome and not need or want anything else.
As Saskia notes, not everyone has access to, is able to, or wants take testosterone and testosterone only affects pitch. While the pitch of a person’s voice can be the most notable aspect, it’s only one side of a greater component that can be worked on. Training can take place with or without a person taking testosterone and should not be seen as some form of requirement.
Resonance and the Body
Another important component to consider in regards to a person’s voice is resonance. As previously mentioned, the pitch is created from vibrations of the vocal cords. From the vibrations, sound waves occur that move through the body and resonance is how the shape of the body filters that sound. Saskia informs that masculine resonance is usually more in the chest pace while feminine resonance is more focused in the head and mouth. Interestingly, this is mostly based in habits and through practice and commitment, a person can train to change their resonance into the form they desire.
Expression and Articulation
Another component Saskia shares is intonation which is how someone adds extra meaning, expression, or emotion to words spoken. She describes the process as “going up in pitch or volume” depending on the masculine or feminine voice. Masculine voices use more volume to emphasize a word with the inflection going down while feminine voices use more pitch with an upward inflection.
The final component Saskia shares is articulation, meaning how a person syllabizes words. Masculine voices tend to separate the syllables and words spoken while feminine voices blends and flows more. Saskia notes while all components are subtle on its own, when they are all added together, they create a bigger picture.
Other Considerations
There are other components a person may want coaching or training in such as coughing, laughing, or clearing the throat since each person’s voice journey is unique to their own wants and needs. Saskia emphasizes there is no right or wrong way for anyone to sound like or that there is a specific formula to follow. Her job is to guide the person on their journey and give them the tool to explore the different components they are interested in.
Healing the Inner Child
Whether it’s directly or not, a person will more than likely receive some sort of message from society on how to behave in order to be accepted. Saskia’s work in Speech Therapy aims to help people on their journey of self-discovery to reconnect with their inner child and figure out what feels right for them. She wants her client to be able to give themselves permission to play and explore without shame or judgement.
Empowering Lessons
Saskia stresses the importance of creating safe and sustainable habits accompanied by the knowledge of what things should and should not feel like. A person’s voice is dynamic but delicate because it can be damaged. Saskia hopes that by the end of a client’s coaching journey, they will understand their voice in a new way.
Takeaways
Right now, being able to live the authentic life desired may be a difficult but that does not make it any less important. Saskia’s work in Speech Therapy offers people another avenue toward the identity and life they wish to lead and that must be celebrated. Any time a person becomes one step closer to living the life they desire; the world becomes a more interesting and exquisite place.
