My mission is to provide quality speech, language and voice therapy in a manner that is respectful of the whole person, doing all I can to guide that person to a place of being free to speak in all situations. 

I have been employed as a speech and language pathologist since 1981. I have enjoyed providing therapy to a wide range of ages and speech and language disabilities. I have a long history of success in the field, and was enjoying performing the job I felt I was meant to do in life.

Then, in late April of 2004, my life changed. After a period of great stress, a bout of laryngitis failed to abate. Instead, I plummeted into the devastation of Spasmodic Dysphonia. With a formal diagnosis of Adductor SD in August 2004, I set about to challenge and overcome this problem. My voice became so strangled and effortful that I decided to take a leave from my job in December 2004. I could not accept a life-long dependence on botox injections to get me through; and felt that surely, with the right approach, I would recover my voice.

I did recover my voice, which was a process of using voice therapy techniques, singing, my mind's intention, breathing, exercises, psychological counseling, yoga, massage and dedicated practice. As my normal voice emerged, I felt my life changing again, but not back to where I was before SD. This profound experience led me to develop a passion to help others succeed with reclaiming their voices. Hence, the Free to Speak Holistic Intensive Voice Rehabilitation Clinics were initiated in August 2005, and have proven to be very successful. We offer these clinics four times annually. (See Intensive Workshop). In addition, I maintain a private practice for all speech, language, voice and fluency problems which includes private consultations and therapy for SD. I have come to recognize and treat SD as a mindbody disorder, so I treat the whole person, not simply the voice.

Click on the samples below to hear my SD voice as I resolved the problem.

Six months after onset of spasmodic dysphonia October 2004
After resolving SD June 2005
Connie Rainbow Passage July 27, 2006

Note: The above 3 voice clips were taken from audiotape and some quality was lost. The audio clip below was recorded electronically on May 19, 2008, 3 years after Connie regained her voice.

Connie Pike May 19, 2008

My book, Free to Speak: Overcoming Spasmodic Dysphonia, outlines my journey, and includes an appendix of suggested exercises to help recover the breathing and voicing patterns to a more normal state. It is appropriate for anyone interested in Spasmodic Dysphonia, as well as speech and language therapists interested in learning more about a  holistic non-drug voice rehabilitation program. Purchase a copy

Michael White, Optimal Breathing Specialist and I, along with a psychologist, work together to provide an intensive voice rehabilitation clinic.  For more information, go to www.freetospeakvoicetherapy.com/speechclinic.html

What about voice therapy?

The track record for voice therapy is a poor one. I believe this is because speech therapists are not properly trained to administer voice rehabilitation with the intensity and the holistic nature that SD therapy requires. The emotional piece of SD is huge and there are breakdowns not just in voice production, but in breathing, voice image and more. The "feeling" of proper voice production is lost in a case of SD and must be rediscovered. I am committed not only to helping those with SD recover, but helping speech therapists understand what is needed to truly overcome SD.

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