Therapeutic Singing/Breathwork

Therapeutic Singing/Breathwork Sessions

The past two decades have seen rapid growth in scientific research into the physical and mental health benefits of both singing and breathing practices.
My MA Voice Pedagogy research focused particularly on Compassion Focused Therapy-informed teaching approaches and the intersections between breathwork and singing. My studies culminated in designing, implementing and analysing a programme of educational one-to-one singing/breathwork sessions to support females self-referring with Anxiety. The therapeutic singing/breathwork sessions I offer are based on this programme and I specialise particularly in working with female voice.

The sessions are not a form of psychological therapy, but instead focus on educational breath and voice practices that are designed to offer therapeutic benefits for health and wellbeing. Delivered in a nurturing environment, the sessions may be supportive of many conditions, including Anxiety-related issues and Chronic Pain, as well as being suitable for people who have low voice confidence or previous adverse experiences related to singing. Please scroll down for pricing, testimonials, details of my MA research findings and the answers to Frequently Asked Questions. To find out more about broader research regarding singing and breathwork, head to the bottom of the page.

Sessions take place in my studio, which is located in Old Stratford, between Milton Keynes, Buckingham and Northampton. I am also available to be commissioned for this work in a range of educational and health settings.

A programme of six weekly hour-long sessions was undertaken with 3 participants and findings of this comparative case study indicated:

Reductions in anxiety
Increases in relaxation
Increases in calm post-sessions
Increases in awareness regarding respiratory tendencies and physiological tensions
Ability to self-implement breathwork and related singing exercises
Increased joy in relation to voice and feeling able to sing with more authentic sound
Greater flexibility of cognitive patterns
A sense of empowerment

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Are the sessions the same as Music Therapy?

No, the sessions are not Music Therapy and I am not a Music Therapist. Music Therapy is an established psychological clinical intervention, which engages musical interaction between therapist and client using musical instruments and voice, often centring around improvisational methods. The sessions that I offer are educationally-focused, nurturing the client's voice and breath using methods that are gentle, mental health-informed and grounded in aspects of Polyvagal Theory and Compassion Focused Therapy

Do I need to be a singer to take part in the sessions?

No, not at all. Whilst the sessions do use voice, clients don't need any experience of singing. Indeed, the sessions are very suitable for people who have struggled to use their singing voices or have experienced difficulties related to previous singing engagement

Why are the sessions between 60 and 70 minutes long?

During my MA research project it became clear that flexibility of session length was key to allowing each individual to feel optimally supported and to enhance calm and relaxation. This reflects the importantly individualised nature of sessions, allowing for potential extra time for questions or for extended relaxation at the end of a session to create nervous system balance

Why do these sessions cost more than your other one-to-one singing or breathwork sessions?

In addition to the potentially longer nature of the sessions, the price reflects the additional planning and preparation work that is involved. Also, I engage in sessions with a qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor as part of the process of leading these sessions, to safeguard both client and practitioner

What are the steps that are involved before engaging in these sessions?

The first step is to make contact with me to express your interest, which you can do by clicking here. We can then have an email exchange to chat through your needs, clarifying what the sessions can offer and what you might be hoping to get out of them. As part of the process, I will ask you to fill in a short health questionnaire seeking to assess any contraindications and your suitability for sessions. Depending on your health status it may be that you will need to ask your GP for consent to take part in sessions or, if the sessions are not suitable then I will make suggestions for referral to other services

SUMMARY OF BROADER RESEARCH ON SINGING FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Over 90% of singing lesson students commented on benefits of singing to their mental health (e.g., mood, less depressive episodes) (Smith et al, 2021)

Singing interventions were found to be effective in improving the mental health component of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in people with Long Covid (Philip et al, 2022)

Singing training uses the cardiorespiratory system and has the potential to enhance respiratory muscles and optimize breathing (Kang et al, 2018)

Lengthening exhalation, slowing breath rate and using diaphragmatic breathing can increase Parasympathetic Nervous System activity (Perciavalle et al, 2017)

Singing can reduce depression and increase self-esteem in children and young people (Porter et al, 2017)

Singing can cause changes in hormones, including the upregulation of oxytocin, (Kang et al, 2018) and endorphins (Smith et al, 2010)

Singing (standing up) requires physiological demands comparable to moderate paced walking (Philip et al, 2021)

Singing can promote the reduction of stress hormone cortisol (Kreutz et al, 2004; Fancourt et al, 2016)

Five minutes singing at CB pace/ratio amplified HRV and increasesd positive affect (Tanzmeister et al., 2022) and spontaneous toning triggered CB pace leading to cardio-respiratory optimization (Bernardi et al., 2017)

SUMMARY OF BROADER RESEARCH ON BREATHWORK FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Breathing is unique amongst autonomic systems as it has the capacity to be under conscious control(Schwerdtfeger et al, 2020)

Slow Breath Practices can be helpful in reducing stress/anxiety, enhancing concentration, improving sleep issues and reducing PTSD Symptoms (Gerbarg & Brown, 2016), (Streeter et al, 2012)

Respiratory circuits are essentially plastic (Smith et al, 2012) which allows for adaptation/improvement of breathing behaviours

Diaphragmatic breathing can be a beneficial, safe approach to reducing symptoms in anxiety disorders (Chen et al, 2017; Wei et al, 2016).

Coherent breathing, a foundational element of Breath-Body-Mind practices has been associated with high Heart Rate Variability (HRV), an indicator of good balanced and calm mental/emotional state (Brown et al, 2013)

Slowing the respiration cycle, extending exhalation, and using diaphragmatic breathing all positively stimulate the vagus nerve (Gerritsen and Band, 2018) providing benefits to cognitive, physical and emotional health

Sensory messages from the lungs and diaphragm transmit information to multiple areas of the brain (Heck et al, 2017) (Noble & Hochman, 2019); slow, deep breathing generates messages of safety positively impacting on cognitions/emotional health.

KEY TO CHART COLOURS

Related to Mental Health

Related to Heart Function

Related to Hormones/Adrenal Function

Related to Lung Function

One-to-One Therapeutic Singing/Breathwork Session prices

FREE 10-15 minute consultation phone or zoom conversation - to find out more about these sessions and how they might support your specific needs please message me here or via the buttons below.

60-70 minute session - £70

Email Enquiries

Contact Form

Please note: I undertake supervision sessions with a qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor in relation to these sessions.

MA Research Findings

Related to Diaphragm

Related to Nervous System Function

Client Testimonials

“Suffering with a chronic pain condition, and with troublesome menopause symptoms, I had been exploring breathwork for a time, but I was a nervous and reluctant singer, incapable of holding a tune... I would never have believed that, after just six sessions, I would be using my voice to sing my way towards healing and a new confidence"

"Claire is naturally empathetic, and immediately put me at ease. She has an expert way of knowing just how far to go,
each week guiding me in a way that left me with a sense of both calm and excitement at the way I could manage my symptoms with my body, breath and voice”

"I highly recommend Claire, she helped me feel completely relaxed through breath work, & singing. A unique experience. I always left our sessions with an uplifting sense of well being. On top of that she is a genuinely kind, warm person"

"My singing and breathwork sessions with Claire were absolutely beautiful. I felt held and safe, she put me at ease despite my nerves and the techniques for both voice and to manage anxiety were brilliant. I highly recommend"

Multiple Colours - related to more than one category

References

Bernardi, N. F., Snow, S., Peretz, I., Orozco Perez, H. D., Sabet-Kassouf, N., & Lehmann, A. (2017). Cardiorespiratory optimization during improvised singing and toning. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07171-2

Brown, R. P., Gerbarg, P. L., & Muench, F. (2013). Breathing Practices for Treatment of Psychiatric and Stress-Related Medical Conditions. In Psychiatric Clinics of North America (Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp. 121–140). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2013.01.001

Chen, Y. F., Huang, X. Y., Chien, C. H., & Cheng, J. F. (2017). The Effectiveness of Diaphragmatic Breathing Relaxation Training for Reducing Anxiety. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 53(4), 329–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12184

Fancourt, D., Williamon, A., Carvalho, L. A., Steptoe, A., Dow, R., & Lewis, I. (2016). Singing modulates mood, stress, cortisol, cytokine and neuropeptide activity in cancer patients and carers. Ecancermedicalscience. https://doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2016.631

Gerbarg, P. L., & Brown, R. P. (2016). Neurobiology and neurophysiology of breath practices in psychiatric care. Psychiatric Times, 33(11).

Gerritsen, R. J. S., & Band, G. P. H. (2018). Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00397

Heck, D. H., McAfee, S. S., Liu, Y., Babajani-Feremi, A., Rezaie, R., Freeman, W. J., Wheless, J. W., Papanicolaou, A. C., Ruszinkó, M., Sokolov, Y., & Kozma, R. (2017). Breathing as a fundamental rhythm of brain function. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 10(January), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2016.00115

Kang, J., Scholp, A., & Jiang, J. J. (2018). A Review of the Physiological Effects and Mechanisms of Singing. Journal of Voice, 32(4), 390–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2017.07.008

Kreutz, G., Bongard, S., Rohrmann, S., Hodapp, V., & Grebe, D. (2004). Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27(6), 623–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-004-0006-9

Noble, D. J., & Hochman, S. (2019). Hypothesis: Pulmonary Afferent Activity Patterns During Slow, Deep Breathing Contribute to the Neural Induction of Physiological Relaxation. Frontiers in Physiology, 10(September), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.01176

Perciavalle, V., Blandini, M., Fecarotta, P., Buscemi, A., Di Corrado, D., Bertolo, L., Fichera, F., & Coco, M. (2017). The role of deep breathing on stress. Neurological Sciences, 38(3), 451–458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2790-8

Philip, K. E. J., Lewis, A., Buttery, S. C., McCabe, C., Manivannan, B., Fancourt, D., Orton, C. M., Polkey, M. I., & Hopkinson, N. S. (2021). Physiological demands of singing for lung health compared with treadmill walking. BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 8(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2021-000959

Philip, K. E. J., Owles, H., McVey, S., Pagnuco, T., Bruce, K., Brunjes, H., Banya, W., Mollica, J., Lound, A., Zumpe, S., Abrahams, A. M., Padmanaban, V., Hardy, T. H., Lewis, A., Lalvani, A., Elkin, S., & Hopkinson, N. S. (2022). An online breathing and wellbeing programme (ENO Breathe) for people with persistent symptoms following COVID-19: a parallel-group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine, 2600(22), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00125-4

Porter, S., McConnell, T., McLaughlin, K., Lynn, F., Cardwell, C., Braiden, H. J., Boylan, J., Holmes, V., Rogan, S., Clinician, L., Diamond, K., Allen, J., Reilly, C., Davidson, F., McDowell, C., Boyd, R., Oldfield, A., Mullowney, M., Downes, C., … Heale, A. (2017). Music therapy for children and adolescents with behavioural and emotional problems: a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 58(5), 586–594. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12656

Schwerdtfeger, A. R., Schwarz, G., Pfurtscheller, K., Thayer, J. F., Jarczok, M. N., & Pfurtscheller, G. (2020). Heart rate variability (HRV): From brain death to resonance breathing at 6 breaths per minute. Clinical Neurophysiology, 131(3), 676–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2019.11.013

Smith, A. M., Kleinerman, K., & Cohen, A. J. (2021). Singing lessons as a path to well-being in later life. Psychology of Music. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211030992

Smith, G., Sprouse-Blum, A. S., Sugai, D., & Parsa, F. D. (2010). Understanding endorphins and their importance in pain management. Hawaii Medical Journal, 69(3), 70–71.

Smith, J. C., Abdala, A. P. L., Borgmann1, A., Rybak, I. A., & Paton, J. F. R. (2012). Brainstem respiratory networks: building blocks and microcircuits. Bone, 23(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2012.11.004.Brainstem

Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2012.01.021

Wei, G. X., Li, Y. F., Yue, X. L., Ma, X., Chang, Y. K., Yi, L. Y., Li, J. C., & Zuo, X. N. (2016). Tai Chi Chuan modulates heart rate variability during abdominal breathing in elderly adults. PsyCh Journal, 5(1), 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.105