2021-03-03 • Halifax • Mackenzie Costron
As individuals, our voice is one of the most significant aspects that distinguish us from other people. After puberty, everyone establishes their voice and uses it to communicate with others through intonation and dynamics.
Voice is a key part of our personal identity. We hear our own voice when we express our feelings, ask for our needs, and perform our professional duties. Our colleagues recognize our voice on Zoom. Our loved ones recognize our voice over the phone. The sound of our voice is a huge part of how we define ourselves and how we perceive our identity.
What happens when all that starts to shift? When you don’t recognize your own voice anymore? Or when you start to feel like the sound of your voice doesn’t represent who you are? It’s a part of transitioning that not many people talk about.
Find Your Voice Music Therapy is offering a music therapy program called Trans-Formative Voices starting March 2021. It is a program for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to support individuals who are going through a vocal transition, seeking to feel gender-affirmed with their voice, and/or looking for a safe space for creative vocal expression.
The program includes individual sessions to focus on your unique voice (speaking and/or singing) in areas such as, but not limited to: finding a comfortable gender-affirming vocal range, protecting your vocal cords, and decreasing strain and tension. In addition, group sessions with focus on fostering a peer support network, discussing topics relevant to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community (i.e. feelings of isolation, challenges with accessing therapy and mental health services), and collective music-making. All are welcome, no prior musical experience is needed.
There is no requirement to be musically trained, talented or inclined. This program is for anyone who wishes to create a new relationship with their voice, learn how to properly care for it, and gain confidence with their gender identity.
The Certified Music Therapist facilitating the program is a non-binary individual within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who is enrolled in the Advanced Training in Affirmative Therapies for Transgender Communities program at Widener University, to ensure an inclusive, progressive, and safe space for all individuals.
Sessions start the second week of March 2021. Find Your Voice Music provides a Pay What You Can pricing model; they anticipate offering accessible pricing by May 2021 when they receive grants as well as public and private donations.
For additional program information, how to can make a donation, and registration information, please visit their website: findyourvoicemusictherapy.com/trans-formative-voices-music-therapy-program/ .
