The Norma G. Canner Foundation for Voice Movement Therapy announces a training in Voice Movement Therapy beginning November 2019 in several modules until June 2020.
Please click link below to open the PDF page.
Announcing the Norma G Canner Foundation for Voice Movement Therapy Training [PDF]
by Anne M. Brownell, VMTR
The Voice Movement Therapy Center
The Voice Unchained
The first VMT training was held in London 25 year ago and then moved to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, then to South Africa, and currently in China. It is exciting to be starting this next phase with the fiscal and technical assistance of the Marion Institute, a not-for-profit organization focused on the environment, bioregulatory medicine, and the health of the whole person, also entering its 25th year (see The Voice Movement Therapy Center and the Marion Institute). We look forward to this new beginning on the mainland and are eager to take up work in our new home. We hope to see you there.
VMT TRAINING: THE VOICE UNCHAINED
Every act of self-determination we make and every way we interact with others of different cultures, faiths, sexual or gender orientations, or simply different points of view, can be seen as a “political” act in that it affects the people with whom we live and work. How can increasing our knowledge and ability to use the range, versatility, power and passion of the human voice help us to express and clarify our own feelings and ideas and join with others to create inclusive communities?
This training will ground participants in the creative and therapeutic principles and practices of Voice Movement Therapy, including ways of dealing with differences among people by going beyond words to find common ground. Beginning with an exploration of our own voice and movement styles and habits, we will address the issues that arise individually and in the context of the group as a microcosm of the macrocosm, with the dual purpose of making us more aware and stronger in ourselves while developing interpersonal skills to take into the larger world.
We welcome applications from any individual, inclusive of race, religion, sexual or gender orientation, who has a strong commitment to train in this work and who is physically and emotionally ready to undergo an intense and demanding program. We do not discriminate in educational programmatic or scholarship policies and all scholarships are need-based.
NORMA G. CANNER FOUNDATION FOR VOICE MOVEMENT THERAPY SCHOLARSHIPS
All scholarship applications are processed through The Norma G. Canner Foundation for Voice Movement Therapy, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, which supports the work of VMT though intensive training programs, classes, concert-demonstrations and special projects. Trainings to which the Canner Foundation contributes are priced as inexpensively as possible to enable individuals from many different backgrounds and locations to attend. The Foundation does its very best to provide essential financial assistance to individuals who otherwise could not participate in this program, but funds are limited.
WHAT IS VOICE MOVEMENT THERAPY?
VMT combines psychotherapeutic principles with breath-work, movement, imagery, massage, song and improvisation, seeking to explore the relationship of mind, body and spirit which make up the human condition. As the voice is the most direct means of approaching the material which resides inside each individual, through VMT the ability to use the voice expressively is expanded and we touch the depths of ourselves to encounter our potential and our release, finding a more conscious relation to ourselves.
WHO WE ARE
The Voice Movement Therapy Center is a program of The Norma G. Canner Foundation for Voice Movement Therapy, a not-for profit 501(c)3 organization, which promotes this work through an intensive training program, shorter classes, concert- demonstrations and special projects. Tax deductible funds and gifts are allocated through scholarships to enable highly motivated individuals, regardless of economic circumstance or geographical location, to attend the Voice Movement Therapy Training : The Voice Unchained, and to carry out further work and study directly related to the discipline of Voice Movement Therapy (VMT).
All contributions and gifts to the Foundation go directly to the program, not buildings. The Foundation Training is registered with both the Internal Revenue Service and the US Department of Immigration as a small training school, the purpose of which is to teach individuals to be practitioners of VMT, a creative discipline designed to be therapeutic and healing.
THE VOICE MOVEMENT THERAPY CENTER AND THE MARION INSTITUTE
Christine Isherwood has been conducting a VMT training at an Expressive Arts Therapy School in China, as well as presenting at conferences in the U.S. and abroad. Aside from doing a lot of singing, some performing, and some workshops and classes here and there, Anne’s main task during this time has been to find a new location and move the Foundation and its programs to the mainland. This has been made possible by the support of the www.marioninstitute.org, a 25 year-old not-for profit organization which began with both local and international environmental and social justice programs and in the past year has added new initiatives in bioregulatory holistic medicine and the health of the whole person to its mission. They also act as a fiscal sponsor for organizations called Greenhouse Initiatives, described as having global reach and local impact, and state their mission as follows: “For twenty-five years the Marion Institute has been the financial home of dozens of successful social change organizations. By providing fiscal sponsorship and administrative backing, we enable an impressive array of visionary leaders to fully engage in the frontline implementation of their work, at every stage of development.”(www.marioninstitute.org website and Greenhouse Initiatives)
The new Voice Movement Therapy Center, under the umbrella of the Norma G. Canner Foundation, is now one of these projects and can be found on their website and in their newsletter. We have needed this kind of technical assistance for a very long time, and are proud to be associated with this wonderful organization and its dedicated staff.
