Resonant voice therapy (RVT) is an established technique used to treat numerous voice disorders, including muscle tension dysphonia and vocal fold nodules. Patients learn to produce healthy voices with forward focus and easy phonations by following RVT exercises.
RVT is an experiential sensory processing technique with gradually more complex stimuli for training purposes. Beginning with chanting exercises and progressing to vocalization and voiceless sounds at word, phrase and conversation levels.
1. Relaxation
After conducting an in-depth assessment, your SLP will tailor a tailored therapy plan to improve both the quality and efficiency of your voice. Based on their evaluation results, they may recommend Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) or other approaches including flow phonation, Smith Accent Technique or manual Laryngeal Musculoskeletal Tension Reduction Technique (MLMTRT). RVT uses vibrations at the front of the face to displace power away from vocal folds, relieving strain while simultaneously improving voice quality.
Resonant voice therapy entails practicing exercises such as humming to establish forward placement of their voices. This can reduce vocal fatigue while increasing clarity of the spoken language for easier understanding, as well as improve overall vocal quality by encouraging relaxation.
Resonant voice therapy (RVT) can be an effective solution for treating various vocal disorders, including muscle tension dysphonia, vocal nodules and recurrent laryngeal polyps. RVT offers immediate relief while decreasing further damage or the risk of complications related to these conditions.
Resonant voice therapy goes beyond chanting; patients will learn how to detect vibrations in the front of their face – including their anterior alveolar ridge, nose, teeth, lips, and facial bones – by feeling vibrations of vibration in various locations like their anterior alveolar ridge, nose, teeth, lips, and facial bones. They then practice easy phonation by repeating voiced and voiceless sounds at word, phrase and sentence levels; and doing negative practice to distinguish between their habitual “old” voice and their new healthy resonant one.
Resonant voices are soft, gentle sounds that feel similar to buzzing or tickling on the front of the face. To maintain healthy vocal health over time, it’s essential that patients practice using this voice during everyday conversations so that it becomes part of their normal speaking pattern and prevent reversion back to old unhealthy patterns which further damage their voice.
2. Exercises
Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) employs vocal exercises designed to increase both the power and clarity of speech, reduce strain on vocal cords, treat dysphonia, heal nodules/polyps and even fatigue on long speeches without vocal fatigue. RVT involves creating vibrations in front of mouth/face which move voice away from vocal folds thus making long speech sessions possible without fatigue on voice.
RVT starts with humming and gradually transitions to voicing, voiceless sounds and phrases/conversation. Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of RVT for vocal quality and efficiency improvement, including one 2017 systematic review.
SLPs use various sound combinations and drills in addition to humming as part of their approach to teaching patients how to feel oral vibration during phonation, including lip trills, tongue out trills, /v/, /z/, /m/, /n/, y-buzz straw phonation and buzzy /u/. Certain exercises may be easier for some patients than others so it is crucial that SLPs find the ideal exercise for each of their patients.
As well as employing these strategies, it’s also crucial that patients address any underlying conditions that could be contributing to their voice issues. Be it acid reflux, vocal nodules, or laryngectomy – treating such conditions will allow your patient to regain a clear and powerful voice without artificial means such as speech therapy. For more information and patient handouts related to voice therapy please view our evidence-based voice therapy patient handouts and worksheets.
3. Breathing
As part of their resonant voice therapy sessions, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) teach individuals to control their breathing in order to support their voices and use a deep diaphragmatic breathing pattern for maximum air intake during phonation.
Many individuals struggle with breathing control during resonant voice therapy. This is often because individuals are accustomed to shallow, chesty breathing patterns which create tension within their vocal folds and larynx.
Resonant voice therapy steps pdf provide patients with tools for breathing control by teaching them a simple training gesture (BTG) to track continuous airflow during phonation. A BTG typically consists of repeated high to low pitch vocal sighing with emphasis on vowels /m/ and /n/.
SLPs employ several other techniques to improve breath control, including humming exercises that allow individuals to discover their “mask resonance,” or vibrations within facial bones and sinuses rather than vocal cords. SLPs may also utilize a straw phonation technique or semi-occluded vocal tract configuration exercises.
SLPs use voice therapy techniques to reduce strain placed on vocal cords and increase overall vocal quality, helping people attain powerful yet effortless voices. Through voice therapy steps like these, individuals are provided the support needed to develop powerful yet effortless voices.
4. Resonance
Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) incorporates forward-focused speech into daily interactions to foster vocal clarity and efficiency while relieving strain on vocal folds, decreasing fatigue levels and ultimately improving overall vocal quality.
RVT is a physiologic voice treatment program used for various forms of vocal disorders such as muscle tension dysphonia and vocal nodules. The aim is to produce powerful yet effortless sounds by emphasizing nasal consonants and easy phonation techniques. RVT employs experiential sensory processing as well as numerous repetitions of training stimuli at differing levels of complexity; making it one of the most widely utilized speech therapy programs today.
Clinicians first instruct their patients to feel vibrations on the front of the face and neck during resonant voice production, including sensations at the anterior alveolar ridge, lips, nose and facial bones. Patients then practice using easy phonation with forward placement as they develop word, phrase and sentence level resonant voices using negative practice early in treatment to encourage them to distinguish their habitual “old” voice from their healthy resonant one.
Chanting is another effective technique for strengthening forward voice placement and resonance, achieved through repeating rhythmic phrases or words while keeping the voice light and relaxed.
RVT uses segmentation as a technique to divide complex kinesthetic behavior into well-defined targets, which allows therapists to instruct patients in maintaining proper vocal technique even as they move from resonant voice production to conversational speech contexts. As such, RVT makes for an excellent treatment option for individuals suffering from muscle tension dysphonia or vocal nodules who must maintain healthy voice production despite increasing demands of functional speech contexts.
5. Relaxation
Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) offers patients looking to ease voice strain and develop strong, clear vocal chords an excellent means of doing so. RVT emphasizes forward resonance for powerful yet effortless singing voices. Furthermore, RVT addresses several voice disorders including muscle tension dysphonia and vocal fold nodules.
RVT utilizes experiential sensory processing and repetitive training exercises to foster optimal laryngeal health. A basic training gesture includes chanting a simple vowel from a high to low pitch in order to establish forward placement of voice. Humming is another effective means of creating vibrations in front of face which promote a relaxed yet easy voice that produces balanced phonatory airflow.
RVT utilizes negative practice as a technique for teaching patients how to distinguish between their habitual voice and the new one they’re working on integrating into everyday conversational speech contexts, giving them the internal sense of control and empowerment necessary for behavioral change. Another effective approach is the Smith Accent Technique which uses controlled breathing exercises with rhythmic exercises designed to coordinate vocal fold vibration, air pressure and airflow – check out our Adult Speech Therapy Starter Pack for even more helpful speech-language pathology tools and resources!
