SLT versus Singing Teacher. Boundaries, Referral & Vocal Health

Send us Fan MailWhat's the difference between a speech and language therapist (or pathologist) and a singing teacher? Where do those roles overlap and where should the boundaries be?In this episode of This Is a Voice, Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes explore the similarities and differences between the work of an SLT/SLP and a singing teacher, especially when singers or professional voice users arrive with voice problems, vocal fatigue, or concerns about vocal health. The conversation begins after teaching a course for SLTs in Northern Ireland, where questions about overlap, gaps & boundaries kept coming up.Gillyanne and Jeremy unpack the difference between a more medicalized approach and a more functional one, showing how clinicians may be focused on diagnosis, pathology, red flags and referral pathways, while singing teachers and vocal coaches are often focused on efficiency, stamina, clarity, range, coordination and performance goals.   * when a singer should be referred onward   * why singing teachers need to stay inside their scope of practice   * how to think about vocal load   * why voice problems are often multifactorial, a “perfect storm”   * what singing teachers can legitimately observe and ask00:00 Singing teachers training SLTs01:30 Why this SLT training course was different03:45 Overlaps, gaps and boundaries05:57 Singing teachers can help retrain coordination08:33 Medicalized vs functional voice work11:42 Multifactorial voice problems and boundaries15:43 Perfectionism, performance pressure and voice recovery19:57 Case study, effortful voice through 2 different lenses23:29 What to hear, see and ask before giving exercises25:24 Why context matters more than generic exercises26:33 What is my job today in this room?28:00 Case history, profiling and trial interventions31:34 Being a detective, testing and evaluating exercisesIf you’re interested in voice therapy, vocal pedagogy, functional voice training, singing teaching, rehabilitation vs habilitation, and referral decisions, this episode is packed with practical insight from two voice experts who train speech therapistsRemember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/We've also got this ↓ For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson. Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/ If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251 Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB   Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS  Find us - follow us on the socials! 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess   📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vocalprocess  📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess #vocalprocess #teacheraccreditation #voicetraining