ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the therapeutic use of voice and embodied sound as a journey of integration of the self, focusing especially on work with trauma survivors. It demonstrates how to work safely and collaboratively with the younger, wounded parts of the self which have been silenced by childhood trauma. In therapeutic voicework, the therapist and her vocalised sounds act as a resonating container for the client, enabling them to experiment with voicing their own, previously voiceless self. The work comprises the following stages, with reference to four case examples: 1) drawing on insights from Polyvagal Theory regarding the vagus nerve, the autonomic nervous system, and trauma, the therapist creates a safe environment, where the client can become stabilised and grounded in their body through the use of non-verbal vocalisations, toning, and breathing exercises; 2) improvised dyadic singing, a form of non-verbal vocalising between the client and the therapist, is introduced to enable the client to access unvoiced feeling states of their traumatic past; 3) finding their own sung voice, even incorporating words into their improvised singing, the client can now fully own and integrate that traumatised child part into their adult being, fostering it back into the family of self.
