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By Mariela Astudillo
I have always felt and perceived the world in a different way from others. From a very young age, emotions affected me in a deeper and more intense way than the rest of the children around me. I have always been a person who has sought the gaze of others, I have always been very tactile, I have always understood interactions with others as a vehicle to transmit emotions, feelings, to share and to learn.
When I started my speech therapy studies in Belgium in 2002, I was fascinated by all the subjects related to health, anatomy, psychiatry, physiology… that were part of my career.
Having a medical father, I had always been fascinated by the world of medicine. But even more, that human side that allows healing or relieving with just a look, a gesture or a word.
I believe in the healing power of trust, of accompaniment, of motivation. Likewise, I believe in that human side that allows us to transmit security and hope. Just as I believe in the healing power of medicine of course. But I think that the most magical part of medicine is the human being himself.
So, when I started my studies, I was fascinated to discover the functioning of the vocal cords, discover the inner ear, its dynamics, its physiology, also discover neuropathies, psychiatry, all the alterations of the mind, etc… And the day I started practising, I realised that At last I could be free to practice speech therapy according to my own sensitivity. In fact, during my years of study, I have felt many times that I had to follow a protocol or apply a methodology that did not match much with my way of being.
Sometimes, I would fight with my teachers after an internship because they imposed me to be and exercise my profession in a stipulated way according to their own convictions. And about, in my opinion, too cold and distant bases of the human factor that I like and am so passionate about. Therefore, since the beginning of my career, I have been discovering that the true magic of speech therapy is in each of us as human beings and not in what they impose on us.
Emotional speech therapy was born from this revelation, first of all, from feeling free from, at last, being able to practice speech therapy as I understood it, based on the human factor, perception, feelings and emotions. On the other hand, to realise that it was precisely thanks to that freedom that I was able to get such good results with my patients.
So, a few years ago I decided to call my practice Emotional speech therapy because I do not rely on any type of quantification to obtain results with my patients but on the emotions and the perception of the patient herself (see and feel through her), on how she lives, how she feels, how she perceives achievements…
I do not need to cling to quantitative scales based on a valued normality based on moulds and references (in most cases obsolete) dictates and taxes. I do not adjust to any type of canon or vocal pattern stipulated by a scientific community devoid of emotion to decide whether the work or the results we obtain are acceptable or socially correct.
Nor do I lock myself in a role of speech therapist or health professional in front of a person who is going to force to lock herself in a role of patient.
I open the borders and horizons, I become a speech therapist-friend. I break moulds and review concepts, reduce limits and allow the relationship between the person who comes to me and me to be based on freedom, trust and above all on the search for a common good.
I think that the fact of not being aware that we cannot work the voice without taking into account the emotions, the way the person perceives the world, the feelings… It is the biggest mistake that speech therapists make every day in the world.
You cannot dissociate the voice of the person, from his personality, from his history, from his experiences… You cannot treat the voice in isolation, nor can femininity be taught when it is something totally innate.
I know that many people differ from my way of thinking, feeling, perceiving, practising my profession… And I firmly believe that this is part of The most beautiful thing we have in the world, namely, to realise to what extent We are different Each other’s Since that’s exactly what makes us unique.
In the same way that I strive every day in Discover and understand the world of each of the people who come to me, I also think that the most wonderful thing is to feel that those people trust me to the point that they themselves discover who I am, since I leave the door open for them to do it.
CONFIDENCE, SECURITY, EMOTIONS
For all these reasons, the speech therapy I apply is called emotional speech therapy. Because what guides us are emotions, that feeling of well-being, that confidence that after all is what we seek in all human relationships, regardless of their nature.
The exchange I have with my patients is not based exclusively on a professional relationship. My patients are very important in my life and I give a part of my heart to each of them. The most incredible thing is that that is exactly what they reproached me when I was a student, that I was too involved in my sessions, that I was too present, that it was noticeable that I was “too” affected by the history of each of my patients…
Probably, the scheme that I reproduce every day in my profession is difficult to understand for many professionals, and I also do not ask all professionals to apply my way of seeing the world. However, what I can assure you is that if today I achieve such good results with my patients, if the Astudillo method is so effective, it is precisely because that human factor is the key to everything.
I have also begun to understand over the last few years, that You can’t apply my methodology without giving it a part of it. Since if the key is the human factor, the person who applies it must adapt it to their own perception, which will be the most enriching for the professional himself and his patients.
Within emotional speech therapy, we work on what we call the emotional voice. That is, the ability we have to express ourselves through the voice, to seek the greatest expression of our being and to express ourselves as we perceive the world, without brakes, without barriers, without stereotypes, without prisons.
We all have an emotional code and many times, unfortunately, we do not feel free to express it in its purest state, without influences. Societies, families, our circles, often prevent us from being as we really are, and we end up succumbing and adopting ways of expressing ourselves that are not a reflection of who we really are. All this simply to be accepted.
The emotional voice allows to liberate the human being, liberate anyone who trusts himself and wants to deeply express himself and reveal himself to the world as he is, without fears or rules.
The emotional voice allows every person to really discover what they are like and enjoy the freedom to express it to the world.
Do not hesitate and contact us, your 1st appointment is totally FREE. We will guide you and solve all your doubts.
