2026 Voice Foundations Symposium Workshop Proposal
Manual Therapy and Exercise for the Tongue: Strange Bedfellows
Walt Fritz, PT

The tongue’s importance with voice is undeniable, but the way we go about improving tongue function varies widely. Exercise is seen by many as an essential component for tongue-based problems. However, its mechanisms of action and outcomes are typically viewed as separate and distinct from those seen with manual therapy-type interventions. In this workshop, we will tear down some walls to see the effects and mechanisms of those two seemingly disparate interventions share many common underpinnings.
This workshop will provide ample hands-on experiences, allowing participants to apply the fundamental principles of this work to self-applied samples. The emphasis of this workshop will be to educate participants on the possibilities of addressing issues of voice and vocal dysfunction through direct touch and manual therapy evaluation, with logical carryover into intervention. Application to an evidence-based model will be presented through handouts.

Learning objectives would include:
1. Provide the participant with a brief overview of the Foundations Approach to manual therapy and exercise as it applies to the treatment of tongue-based concerns, with a strong emphasis on a patient-directed model. Methods used apply to rehabilitation as they do for performance enhancement.
2. Provide differing and, perhaps, controversial views on how exercise and stretching (manual therapy) share common ground.
3. Provide the participant opportunities to explore hands-on experiences using the core principles of the Foundations Approach to manual therapy. Necessary lab materials will be provided.

Walt Fritz, PT, presents the Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders seminars internationally and owns the Pain Relief Center in Upstate New York. He has taken traditional manual therapy narratives (such as manual circumlaryngeal treatment and myofascial release) and applied a patient-directed model of evaluation and treatment that better aligns with current literature. To reduce clinician biases, shared decision-making is a core principle that is emphasized throughout the coursework.