Voice Therapy

Voice Therapy through Speech and Language Services at Wellington or Hutt Hospital

The speech and language services in Wellington can provide outpatient gender affirming voice therapy.

Gender affirming voice therapy is individualised and goal-based and we work with individuals to achieve the goals that they have for their voice and communication. Your results will depend heavily on how regularly you practice the techniques you learn in sessions.

To access these services, you need a referral from either a GP or an Endocrinologist and to fit the eligibility criteria.

The eligibility criteria include:

• You need to be experiencing voice dysphoria
• You should be in a position to use your new way of voicing full-time.

The purpose of this access criteria is to make sure people significantly impacted by voice dysphoria have access to a public service and they are able to regularly use a new way of voicing. This gives the best chance to habitualise voicing and carry it over to everyday life.

Private speech therapy is an option for people who do not have voice dysphoria or are interested in using a new way of voicing part-time. A list of private providers can be found on the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association website.

Wait times for speech and voice therapy in the public system can be up to 10 months. To make sure as many people as possible have the opportunity to access services, the number of sessions is limited to 4-6 per person. Your speech-language therapist will work with you to figure out how to make the most of these sessions based on your goals and how you like to learn.