The voice is the vehicle for our expression. Trauma and emotional injury or mental health issues affect our voice and our ability to express ourselves.

Whether singing or speaking, there can be times when your voice will be affected by what is going on with you emotionally. For those that have experienced some form of abuse or trauma, the effect on the voice can be instantaneous or more insidious, working its way into your body over time. Sometimes it’s not until one is triggered later in life that issues arise. It’s all due to how your body processes these kinds of things and whether you are in a safe environment or a continued chaotic one. Trauma or abuse victims often can’t start working through these experiences until they are on safe ground.

“People think that trauma is what happens to you. Abandonment, your parent’s divorce, your mother’s depression, your father’s alcoholism, physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Those aren’t the traumas. Those events are traumatic. The trauma is not what happens to you. Trauma is what happens inside of you.” ~ Gabor Mate. After the event takes place.

Here are some of the most common ways as well as more complex ways that trauma or abuse can block the singing voice.

Trauma affects the body: Trauma lodges in the body, leaving us vulnerable to unwanted tensions and tight muscles that constrict the voice, shortness of breath, difficulty with volume and power, vocal problems and issues with expression and performance.

Trauma Affects the mind: Trauma lodges in our minds leaving us vulnerable to triggers and stress. Fear and anxiety invade and inhabit the mind circling in a loop looking for resolution causing anything from mild anxiety to panic attacks. This also constricts the voice and dampens it. These fears can siphon our strength, and erode joy in our present and future – as well deplete inner confidence + psychological and emotional resources making performance difficult.

Trauma affects the Spirit or Soul
Spirit: The non-physical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character;
The Soul: The non-physical part of us.

Trauma lodges in our spirits affecting how we feel existentially about ourselves, others, the Universe, even God or Source (whatever you subscribe to).

Some of the effects of trauma on the speaking and singing voice could be:

• Misplaced speaking voice range (too low, too high)
• An overly high pitched speaking voice
• Overly low pitched speaking voice
• Hoarseness, raspiness (tension, frustration, fear of not being heard)
• Muffled voice (not wanting to be heard, fear)
• Low volume (fear of being embarrassed)
• Speaking too loudly (fear of not being heard)
• Lump in the throat that doesn’t go away (grief, anger)
• Choked sensation in the throat
• Larynx that is positioned too high
• High pitched speaking voice
• Cracking + breaking during speaking or singing
• Extra tension when speaking or singing
• Low volume, lack of power
• Lack of full diaphragmatic breathing
• Difficulty with breath control
• Stuttering
• Shaky voice, vocal tremor
• Frequent respiratory infections (bronchitis, colds, flu’s, viruses)
• Frequent vocal problems such as hoarseness, raspiness
• Vocal problems such as vocal loss, pain, nodules, polyps, hemorrhage, cysts etc.
• Disassociation and/or lack of ability to inhabit the body
• Blocked throat chakra
• Fear of performing
• Fear of public speaking
• Some of the many methodologies I use + recommend:
• Vocal technique + therapy, vocal massage, acupuncture for the voice, speech therapy, psychotherapy, breathwork, somatic work, psychotherapy: IFS, Parts work, a few thousand kilos of love and kindness.:).

The most important thing to know is that you are not “stuck” with these issues. While it may be difficult to move past difficult circumstances and painful memories, you can move toward healing. The body and mind recalibrate every 21 days and there is hope for you.

I also want to be sure to speak to long-time trauma survivors, myself being one. There is nothing wrong with you that you continue to wrestle with your past. It’s a sign of the level of trauma and injury that you experienced. I used to have vocal issues and have learned how to heal. If I can do it, so can you.

Hear me discuss this and learn the tips to find your own healing and break through your own emotional blocks, by watching clinical psychologist Luis Armando and I at our recent Vocal Workshop: Trauma, the Voice + the Path to Healing.

Click here to get the replay.