Discover your authentic voice and embody the woman you are.
Haven offers transformational whole-person voice and expression coaching exclusively for transgender women from anywhere via teletherapy.
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are" - C.G. Jung
Beyond "passing"
Whether you're taking your first courageous steps into exploring your true identity or you've been living fully as all of yourself for decades, ALL of you is welcome here.
Perhaps you feel dysphoric about your voice; recognizing that how you're received in the world when you speak doesn't match who you are.
Maybe you've tried to teach yourself voice modification strategies from YouTube only to wind up feeling confused, discouraged, and wondering "am I doing this right?"
Maybe you've even invested in surgery or vocal training only to feel like your voice is not where you want it to be.
And after all this, just maybe you find yourself reading these words in hopes that you've finally found soemthing that can help you "pass."
I am not here to help you "pass," but to help you be
Seen.
Heard.
Celebrated.
Known.
Confidently as who you are.
Because my guess is that when you say you want to "pass" what you really want is to be seen, heard, and received as all of who you are by everyone you encounter.
That what you really want is to feel alive, free, and confidently expressed fully as yourself.
That what you really want is to feel celebrated, validated, and accepted.
And why shouldn't you?
These things are your birthright to experience and I'm here to guide you in learning how.
The Haven Method: A different take on voice modification..
There are many talented voice therapists doing incredible work with women just like you. A lot of whom take insurance and would be wonderful choices for a woman desiring learning to modify her voice.
What makes the Haven Method different is its admittedly unconventional approach to voice and expression transformation compared to traditional voice coaching.
Whereas most voice therapy protocols for trans women focus heavily on external data and bio feedback to inform intervention, the Haven Method focuses instead on how a woman feels as the primary measure of success. Data takes a backseat to how you feel because..
When you feel like you, you sound like you.
When you sound like you, you are received as you.
The Haven Method is an inside-out approach guiding women through a transformation of not only your voice, but your entire way of being in the world incorporating:
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Vocal training exercises
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Embodiment practices
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Mindset coaching
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Energetic awareness and education
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Body movement, posture, and non-verbal communication
The intensive 9-month 1-on-1 program experience will guide you in learning not only strategies to feel really, really good about your voice, but how it feels to be wildly seen and celebrated as who you are. Which changes....well, everything. (Don't take my word for it. Read and see what women have said below).
This is what is possible. This is the new reality for the many women I've worked with and it can be for you too.
Client Before & After
More Client Wins...
"I can do this. I can get to where I want to be."
About me..
I'm Whitney Tougas, M.S. CCC-SLP (she/her). I'm an ASHA-certified voice therapist and expression coach working exclusively with transgender women. I have a B.S. from the University of Tennessee and an M.S. from New York University, however, my approach to voice and expression coaching is rather...unique. Instead of focusing on data and measurable feedback, I've combined my clinical background in speech-language pathology/voice and my decade-long study of feminine expression and energetics to create the Haven Method: a transformational inside-out approach to voice modification and expression coaching from trans women. I work with trans women across the country and around the world via Zoom guiding them in discovering their authentic voice and embodying their unique expression so they can live confidently as the women they are.
I'm often asked how I came to this work. While it seems the most obvious and natural use of my skills, talents, and passions, the simple answer is that my core values in both work and life are connection, expression, and authenticity. I am here to serve, awaken, and honor the rising of the divine feminine in all its forms.
I was introduced to voice modification specifically for trans individuals during my graduate studies at NYU and believe that every human desires and deserves feeling fully celebrated for who they are. I began Haven in 2020 to serve trans women and it's been my honor and privilege to witness, guide, and support so many women in this tender and transformational initiation into who they are meant to be and continue to become.
The most important aspect of successful gender-affirming voice modification, to me, is always how my clients feel. Yes, a lot of women come to me wanting to "pass" and I can certainly help you do that, but it's one thing to sound "like a women." It is another thing entirely to feel like who you've always been. That's where we're going when we work together.
My approach to gender-affirming voice modification turns on its head the perception-focused model of most vocal modification in favor of a whole-person approach. I combine safe and sustainable voice training strategies to address a multitude of vocal qualities, mindset coaching, mindfulness strategies, nervous system regulation techniques, and embodiment training within deeply intimate containers to guide clients in not only sounding like themselves, but truly becoming themselves.
In working together, women receive not only safe and sustainable voice training, but an opportunity to be seen, celebrated, and honored deeply in such a way that it shifts their entire way of existing. Clients consistently share that they have transformed not only their voice, but their confidence far beyond.
I enjoy dancing (Brazilian zouk, pole, lyrical, ecstatic dance, and a whole lot of solo and family kitchen dance parties), hiking, Pilates, and spending time with my family and friends. I live in metro Atlanta with my son and our mini menagerie of three cats and a rescue dog. In addition to my work with trans women, I am a pleasure and intimacy coach for all kinds of humans (www.pleasuresorcery.com), and co-founder of Women Who Roar radical expression ceremonies for all women.
I would love to explore working together in discovering and embodying your authentic voice and expression as the woman you are. I invite you to book a free no-pressure connection call via the link below, and I look forward to meeting you!