Duke Health voice therapists are specially trained to offer evaluations and interventions for transgender and gender-diverse people who want to modify their voice. This includes people who experience vocal dysphoria -- displeasure with your voice and/or how it is perceived by others. By creating a personalized care plan, we help you optimize your vocal pitch, intonation, resonance, nonverbal communication, and more. We're here to help you align your voice with your gender identity and meet your functional voice needs without causing vocal strain or fatigue.
During your initial consultation, we take time to understand your personal and medical history and learn more about your vocal goals. We create a safe space for you to share your voice story. For your comfort and convenience, our gender-affirming voice therapists offer initial consultations in person or through virtual video visits.
We may refer you to a laryngologist if further vocal health assessment is warranted after your initial evaluation.
During voice therapy sessions, our speech-language pathologists teach you strategies to access your authentic voice -- for example, changing your pitch and inflection, altering your resonance to achieve a darker or brighter vocal quality, or relaxing your throat to produce your most natural and desired sound. We also teach proper vocal hygiene, including hydration, avoiding throat clearing, and smoking cessation, to keep your voice healthy.
It may require only a few weekly or biweekly sessions to learn the basics of what you need to achieve your desired results. We are confident you can reach your voice goals by following your therapist’s expert guidance and consistently practicing what you learn.
We offer voice therapy sessions in person or through virtual video visits.
Speech-Language Pathologists with Gender-Affirming Training
Our specialized speech-language pathologists have completed additional training and continue to seek out education about gender-affirming care. We present locally and at national conferences and proudly work as allies with the trans* community to share expertise on this topic. Membership within the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) helps us remain sensitive to the unique needs of transgender and gender-diverse people and strive to increase access to evidence-based health care and other vital services.
Team Approach
We work closely with the wider Duke gender care team, which includes experts in endocrinology, family medicine, plastic surgery, gynecology, dermatology, physical and occupational therapy, psychiatry, social work, and more. We meet monthly to review gender-affirming initiatives and strategies to serve gender-diverse clients at Duke and within the larger community.
Education and Social Support
We offer interactive webinars on voice modification, and our voice specialists moderate the Gender-Affirming Vocal Skills Virtual Group for transgender and gender-diverse adults. In these community engagement sessions, participants can practice using their expanded vocal skills in a safe and supportive setting.
Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital, a campus of Duke University Hospital, are recognized as LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leaders by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. This recognition is evidence of our commitment to eliminate discrimination and promote equality and standing with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) community in all aspects of care.