Humans are expressive creatures and it is natural for us to move and sing. It feels good to express ourselves! VMT is an expressive arts therapy based in the body. It uses voice, movement, song theatre and images as well as physical grounding, stretching and verbal exchange to bring about more embodied vocal, physical and emotional expression.
Opening the expressiveness of the voice allows the voice to emerge more fully, but what really emerges is the person. VMT helps tune into where you are, and allows you to experience yourself more deeply. What stirs in you today may be worries connected to your job or to your spouse. Tomorrow it may be deeper hunger to express yourself more fully in the world.
Through VMT you will become more aware of where you actually are in your thoughts, body and emotions, and more able to express yourself - in words and song.

Origins

Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) was developed into its current form by Paul Newham. He expanded on the work initiated by Alfred Wolfsohn, and explored further by Roy Hart and the Roy Hart theatre.   Wolfsohn was a German-born singing teacher who suffered aural hallucinations as a result of being on the front lines during World War I. After years of suffering and searching, he was able to find release by reproducing the very sounds that haunted him, and went on to develop a therapeutic method based on using the voice.

VMT – How do I work?

I am not a voice teacher. I believe we are all born knowing how to sing, and come equipped with rich, expressive, strong voices. In this life, we're all products of where we come from, and where we've been.

I help you find your voice by:

• Bringing your attention into your own body and becoming aware in a simple way of
  • Your body. Example - you feel tightness in your upper back
  • Emotions - what are you feeling now? And where do you feel it in your body? Example - you feel nervous about singing in front of me, and you feel it in your chest
  • Thoughts. Example - you're second guessing coming here today.

→	This helps because you, the client, become more aware of where you actually are in your body, in your thoughts, in your emotions. It's actually not helpful to try to be someone else, or somewhere else. Here and now are what we've got, so let's begin here and now.

• Sounding, singing and/or moving
  • I work with you to (echo)locate what's real and alive in you in the moment, and give voice to that using different vocal components such as pitch, loudness, free air.