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What can I expect when working with Loud & Clear Speech Therapy?

Loud & Clear Speech Therapy understands that some neurotypes love to know what to expect before starting something new, and others prefer to jump right in. This section is for the benefit of the former group to familiarize yourself with the process of pursuing gender-affirming voice therapy.

Before We Meet

Reach out and say hello! You can send an email to cade@loudandclearspeech, text or call (360) 207-5842, or use the "Get In Touch" form on the website's home page. I typically work on Thursdays and Fridays, and those are the days I return new client inquiries - that means if you reach out on a Friday evening after I "clock out", you may not hear back right away - rest assured, I've received your information and will respond ASAP! I update my email auto-responder and voicemail messages if I anticipate being unable to respond to messages in longer than a week.

Intake Forms: If we decide we are a good fit for each other, I will create a client account for you through my HIPAA-compliant EMR software (SimplePractice) and send you forms to fill out. These include:

  • Patient Agreement Form (so we are on the same page about the expectations of working together)

  • Demographics Information (so I know what to call you and how to contact you)

  • Initial Assessment Intake Form (so I have a basic understanding of what your goals and background to "get to know you" a bit before our first session)

  • Credit Card Authorization/Information (so I can bill you)

  • Voice Handicap Index (if you are using insurance, as they often require some sort of "standardized test" to justify medical necessity)

  • Insurance Verification Form (so you know what questions to ask your insurance to ensure coverage and get an idea of what to expect re: cost)

  • Self-Select Sliding Scale (for private pay clients only, so you can let me know how much you can afford per session)

Working Together

First Session: This is where we get to know each other and talk about your goals for voice therapy. I will ask you questions about your goals, your voice behaviors/health, any medical history that is relevant to voice training, previous experience with voice training, etc. I will go over what a typical voice therapy session looks like and different areas we could potentially work on together based on your goals. You will probably get some easy "homework" to work on between sessions. 

After the first session: This is where the real "work" begins! The first few sessions usually consist of learning about the anatomy and physiology of voice, as well as learning different skills and techniques you can use to modify your voice. I will coach you step-by-step through these exercises to make sure you understand what you are doing before sending you out to practice between our sessions. The next stage of therapy involves combining all of the new techniques you've been learning into one new voice that is aligned with your identity. After that, we work on using your voice for longer periods of time and in more complicated speaking tasks.

Wrapping up: My job as a voice therapist isn't to keep you in voice therapy until your voice is "perfect", but rather to serve as a support for you until you're not able to learn anything new from me! Once you feel like you have a good grasp on your voice and know how to troubleshoot any difficulties you're having, sessions usually reduce from every-other-week to once a month, and then even less frequently after that ("as-needed"). You are in charge of when these scheduling changes happen.

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