New gender affirming voice service launches in Geelong

A St Albans Park resident is among clients benefitting from a Barwon Health gender affirming voice service supporting transgender and gender diverse people.

Barwon Health has started a gender affirming voice training clinic for transgender or gender diverse people. Denby Smith, Barwon Health Speech Pathologist Natasha Curham and Dianne van Andel are pictured outside Geelong hospital. Picture: Mark Wilson

For decades Dianne van Andel was unable to live as her true self.

The 58-year-old, who was assigned male at birth, knew as a child she was transgender – but back then, this “wasn’t a category”.

“Now all of a sudden it’s popping up everywhere and I’m like ‘wow’,” she said.

Ms van Andel said she was in the navy for 20 years and then worked for the defence department – but the “blokey” environment meant she did not live as Dianne at work.

It was only in 2015 she came out to her daughter — the first person she had told she was transgender.

Dianne van Andel. Picture: Mark Wilson

But Ms van Andel was living something of a double life, going out on weekends and living at home as Dianne but unable to express her true identity all the time.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said.

The St Albans Park resident moved to Geelong late last year to start a new life.

She began hormone therapy and is now able to live her truth.

“I’m still learning about myself,” she said.

Ms van Andel is among the clients who have benefited from Barwon Health’s new gender affirming voice service, set up to support transgender and gender diverse people.

“The gender affirmation voice training ensures … continuous improvements in regards to how I present both physically and how I sound,” she said.

“This gives me the confidence to be me.

“This freedom to not be pigeonholed by others is assisting me with managing my mental health issues and being comfortable in my own skin for the first time in a very long time.”

Ms van Andel said she was able to practise voice exercises at home and the service was “very important”.

“As my body’s changing now, my voice needs to change as well,” she said.

“It’s definitely reaffirmed who I am.”

The service provides assessment and management for adults seeking gender affirming

voice training — a voice and communication style that affirms their gender.

People who identify as trans or gender diverse might seek the assistance of this specialist service for support developing vocal characteristics, such as pitch, speech rate and phrasing patterns, and non-verbal communication patterns, like gestures, posture and facial expressions, that affirm their gender identity.

Transgender Awareness Week began on Sunday, andthe service’s official launch is part of Barwon Health’s recognition of the initiative.

Barwon Health established the service six months ago, and speech pathologist Natasha Curham said it had been operating for a few months in the set up phase and had already supported a number of clients.

“We hope as we officially launch this new service we can provide this vital service to more people identifying as trans or gender diverse across the Barwon South West, who up until recently have had to travel to Melbourne for this support or use private health services,” she said.

Speech pathology manager Rhiannon Beggs said the decision to start the initiative

was born out of feedback from local GPs and community members that there was a lack of services available publicly for voice training.

“The team were focused on best meeting the needs of consumers so ensured that the

service was co-designed with the Barwon Health LGBTIQA+ inclusive practice committee and a consumer from the community who was able to share their lived experience,” she said.

To improve access and to support individual preferences, it is offered via telehealth or in person at Geelong hospital.

Denby Spicer-Smith. Picture: Mark Wilson

Transgender woman Denby Spicer-Smith, who lives in Rippleside, also used the clinic.

“All my life everybody told me I was very androgynous,” she said.

“People would say to my mum ‘what a beautiful daughter’.”

The 43-year-old began expressing her female identity during nights out on the town at nightclubs and parties in her 20s.

“By my 30s I was pretty convinced of what was going on and started hormone therapy,” she said.

A relationship with a woman interrupted the process, but Ms Spicer-Smith has now been on hormone therapy again for more than two years.

Ms Spicer-Smith, who is considering undertaking a PhD in digital design in the future, said she had worked in “fairly male-centric industries” including event production, lighting and audio.

“I guess I had very masculine speech patterns,” she said.

She said the vocal exercise techniques she had learnt at Barwon Health’s clinic had

given her much more confidence in her daily life, particularly on the phone, and solved another riddle in the puzzle of herself.

“Living my authentic self is the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” she said.

“Everyday I just feel better and happier.”

Originally published as New gender affirming voice service launches in Geelong