Overview: This workshop explores strategies to address the unique needs of varying levels of interoception and proprioception in voice therapy and singing lessons through the use of multimodal feedback loops. This approach aims to cultivate an individualized awareness in voice users and equip them with the skills needed to respond to a variety of scenarios effectively. Feedback loops may be used as skill-building tools and strategies for self-awareness (or, when beneficial, selective unawareness) in performance and therapy contexts. Attendees will leave with techniques that may be applied to help voice users navigate their thinking tendencies, enhance their voice to meet its demands, and build an intuitive connection with their voice.
Methods/Design: This workshop introduces five feedback loop strategies/techniques tailored for voice users with varying levels of interoception and proprioception in voice therapy and voice lessons. Grounded in Motor Learning Theory and counseling frameworks, these strategies emphasize feedback loops as essential tools for managing diverse voice needs.
Following a brief introductory theoretical foundation, attendees will engage in interactive breakout groups where each group is assigned a case study. These curated case studies represent various patient, client, and student profiles and aim to simulate real-world scenarios. Each group will apply the feedback strategies to determine which techniques are most beneficial for their assigned case. Workshop leaders will facilitate and provide support throughout, encouraging in-depth discussion on implementation.
The session will culminate in small group presentations, where attendees will showcase their selected strategies and rationale to the larger group. This interactive format allows participants to gain practical, hands-on experience with feedback loops and promotes collaborative learning and the exchange of ideas on best practices in voice therapy and voice lessons.
Results/Conclusions: Attendees will leave this workshop with a toolkit of techniques to implement in voice therapy and singing instruction, allowing them to address the spectrum of needs in their patients, clients, and students. These techniques are designed not only for use in voice rehabilitation and habilitation but also to support the necessary skill of counseling and coaching that every effective voice clinician and singing instructor needs. By cultivating a balanced awareness in voice users, these feedback loops support optimal learning outcomes to empower voice professionals to serve a diverse range of voice users in any practice setting.