Voice and Stress: How Mindfulness Can Reduce the Stress of Living with a Voice Disorder

If you’ve been following my work, you know that I am passionate about mindfulness as a tool for helping people with voice disorders. A few years ago, I ran a study on the subject, which was eventually published in a peer-reviewed journal as “Effects of an 8-Week Mindfulness Course in People with Voice Disorders.” Since then, I have continued to lead mindfulness courses and study the relationship between stress and voice. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject:

Stress alone rarely causes voice disorders. It can be part of a perfect storm (along with viral illness, surgery, voice overuse, or genetics) that can lead to a voice disorder. However, it’s almost never as simple as “stress caused this.”
Having a voice disorder is extremely stressful. In their book Psychology of Voice Disorders, psychologist Deborah Rosen and laryngologist Robert Sataloff write that new voice disorder patients exhibited stress levels that “were comparable to that of newly diagnosed cancer patients in outpatient cancer care clinics.”
Stress can show up in the body in numerous ways. These can include physical tension, pain or discomfort, shallow breathing, digestive issues, and fatigue.
Mindfulness can reduce the stress of living with a voice disorder. It can help us respond differently to stress, which reduces suffering. Mindfulness can also make us more aware of our physical patterns of pain or tension. Awareness is the first step toward resolving these entrenched patterns. This may reduce some vocal symptoms.
Mindfulness can help us release the stress of other people’s expectations. By focusing on what is, we learn what we can’t control (other people) and what we can (our responses to others).
Voice disorder patients respond positively to exploring mindfulness in community with others who understand their struggles. My students frequently tell me that being part of a community is their favorite part of my mindfulness course.

Consistent Practice: Making Mindfulness Part of Your Routine

What do you do when you want to practice mindfulness more, but you find it hard to be consistent? Below are a few ideas.

Informal Mindfulness: Being Mindful in Everyday Life

Mindfulness is more than meditation, yoga, or formal practices for which we have to set aside time and space. We can practice mindfulness wherever we are. Formal mindfulness practices help build our mindfulness awareness, but we can tap into it at any time. Drinking my morning tea is my favorite informal mindfulness practice, but there are many forms this can take.

Catherine Kay Brown, photo by Mike Styer Photography

My Story: A Singer with Voice Disorders

Read more about my journey as a singer with voice disorders and how mindfulness helped me overcome muscle tension dysphonia. I now offer mindfulness classes for others with voice disorders. The curriculum is based on my own published, peer-reviewed research.

How Mindfulness May Help People with Voice Disorders

For people with voice disorders, stress can be a causative or an exacerbating factor, potentially worsening the disorder itself and impeding treatment. People with voice disorders often experience high stress levels; social and emotional isolation; and loss, including the loss of work opportunities, sense of self, and the ability to communicate. Mindfulness meditation may help.

Article: Effects of an 8-Week Mindfulness Course in People With Voice Disorders

I have spent the last four years studying mindfulness and its effects in people with voice disorders. My article, “Effects of an 8-Week Mindfulness Course in People With Voice Disorders,” has been published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Voice. The full article is available online.

How to Find a Voice Specialist Speech-Language Pathologist

Most speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have very little experience and training in treating voice disorders. As part of their masters degree, SLPs are required to take one course in voice disorders — and that course may focus more on signs and symptoms than on treatment. If you’ve been diagnosed with a voice disorder, it is essential that you see an SLP who is well-versed in voice. But how can you know whether an SLPs has the experience to help you? This post will give you some ideas of what to look for or what questions to ask.

How to Find a Voice Doctor

Most doctors (even ENTs) don’t have the experience it takes to treat singers or anyone with a complex voice disorder. If you’re shopping for a voice-savvy ENT, look for an otolaryngologist who has completed a fellowship in Laryngology and the Care of the Professional Voice. There are just over 20 such fellowship programs in the United States. I recommend looking for a large hospital with a voice center that employs laryngologists and speech-language pathologists who specialize in voice. This blog post includes an extensive list. However, many regions of the country do not have a voice clinic, and you would be well-served by finding any fellowship-trained laryngologist. I recommend visiting the website of the American Laryngological Association, where you can search for members by location. The search feature does not function perfectly, but it provides a place to start.

Benefits of Group Mindfulness for People with Voice Disorders

Did you know that practicing mindfulness in a group has been shown to produce better outcomes than practicing alone? The popular press frequently touts the health benefits of mindfulness, but rarely states that those benefits are almost always gained in group settings. If you've been practicing mindfulness on your own using recordings or an app, consider joining a class instead.

Study: Mindfulness for People with Voice Disorders

Nearly every modern textbook on vocal pedagogy, vocal health, or the causes and treatment of voice disorders recommends stress reduction as both a preventive and therapeutic tool for voice users and patients with voice disorders. We know from extensive research in various populations that Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) can reduce stress. Yet I have been unable to find any studies on the effects of mindfulness in people with voice disorders. I decided to run my own.

Ten Ways to Begin Your Vocal Warm-Up Without Making a Sound

Here are my favorite ways to kick-start a practice session without waking the neighbors.

Protecting Your Singing Voice: Managing Acid Reflux

Acid reflux, especially the form known as laryngopharyngeal reflux, can wreak havoc on the delicate vocal cords. There are several things we know about laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Managing Postnasal Drip: A Guide for Singers:

Postnasal drip can be a singer’s nightmare. Whether it’s caused by allergies or a bad cold, it can leave the vocal cords swollen, which can limit your range and make your voice more prone to injury. Find out what you can do at home to combat postnasal drip and when you should consider seeing a doctor.

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