The Professional Voice Care Center Welcomes You!

Welcome to the Professional Voice Care Center, where our mission is to create or restore excellent voices, both speaking and singing. Our Hicksville, N.Y. facility offers state-of-the-art care to service the unique needs of those who depend on their voices for their livelihood. Individuals in this category include performers (i.e. singers, actors, broadcasters, etc.), teachers, executives, attorneys, salespeople, lecturers, customer service representatives, and anyone else who uses his/her voice in a professional setting. Services include Voice Therapy, Singing Instruction, Audition Preparation, foreign and regional Accent Modification, and Executive Speech Training. Our unique Therapeutic Singing Lessons are custom-tailored to meet the needs of singers with voice problems. We offer services for Parkinson’s Voice, Gender-Affirming Voice Training and Vocal Image Enhancement.  We focus on the prevention of vocal problems while improving voice skills through a customized program of vocal abuse reduction and vocal hygiene (i.e., vocal conservation, hydration, avoidance of over-drying medications and caffeine, establishment of anti-reflux regimens, etc.).

Additionally, our staff of licensed and certified speech-language pathologists and myofunctional therapists offers evaluation and individualized treatment for a variety of communication disorders, including: Articulation, Fluency (Stuttering), and Tongue Thrust/Reverse Swallowing Pattern.  Many health insurance companies reimburse for covered speech, voice, and myofunctional therapy services. Our Center participates in numerous insurance plans. Click here to learn more about the health insurance plans we participate in.

The Center serves clients throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Alternatively, we can provide you with a variety of online platforms for long-distance voice and singing training.  We’re happy to offer you singing lessons in the comfort of your Long Island home (depending on location). All services are available for children age 5 through adult.

We look forward to working with you and helping you achieve your voice-oriented goals.

Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!

About the Director | Karen Sussman

Karen Sussman, M.A., CCC, celebrity voice trainer and vocologist, is the Director of the Professional Voice Care Center, located in Hicksville, NY. She has been a licensed speech pathologist, voice therapist, speech trainer, and singing specialist since 1981. Karen has trained thousands of performers, executives, teachers, attorneys, sales reps, and other professionals to achieve excellent speaking and/or singing voices and eliminate voice and speech problems.

As a singer-actress, Karen has a special interest and expertise in professional voice/speech training. She has lectured extensively for hospital otolaryngology departments, voice and speech symposia, corporations, choirs, and continuing education programs. She has appeared on television and radio shows devoted to voice care and accent reduction. Karen authored a book chapter on voice care for performers, and wrote a journal article on voice care for fitness instructors.

Karen is certified by, and a member of, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and holds New York and California State Licenses in Speech Pathology. She is a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), and VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association), as well as Long Island and New York State Speech-Language-Hearing Associations. Karen Sussman is a Voiceworks® Associate Voice Instructor.

Karen is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Doctors’ Choice Awards DCA Top 100, the DCA City Winner in Hicksville NY, and the Distinguished Woman in Health Services from the Town of Oyster Bay Women of Distinction Awards. Her practice was selected as an Opencare Patients’ Choice Winner. She was also nominated for Best Speech-Language Pathologist by the Bethpage Best of Long Island contest.

Karen, a Hofstra University graduate (B.S. in Music/Voice Performance and M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology), lives on Long Island. When not working with clients or performing, Karen’s passions include hiking the great outdoors and long walks with her dogs.

Our Services

Audition Preparation 

Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!

At the Professional Voice Care Center, we can help you (or your child) prepare for auditions for college voice, drama, and musical theater programs. Also, our voice and speech instructors can assist with your preparation for community, regional, or professional theater auditions. In addition to song preparation, you can work with us on monologues, sides, scenes, etc.

Our Center maintains a close relationship with top-rated musical theater coaches. These Broadway veterans will create customized audition song lists for you. We will then help you master these selections, both musically and theatrically. As a result, you’ll be on your way to achieving success in this competitive field.

If you’re experiencing voice problems, we know you don’t want these to interfere with your ability to nail an audition. Our staff of voice therapists and singing teachers has special training in therapeutic vocal techniques. These techniques are designed to reduce vocal strain while improving tone, range, and vocal stamina. Furthermore, we can guide you on ways to improve your vocal hygiene, including how to:

Improve hydration and keep your vocal cords moist

Avoid foods and irritants that interfere with good voice production

Calm those audition jitters using specialized breathing techniques

For more information on our Singing Lessons and Therapeutic Singing Lessons, click here. If you’ve been told that your foreign or regional accent may interfere with your ability to be cast in certain roles, you’ll want to read about our Accent Modification Program.

In conclusion, for anyone who wants to shine at an audition – come see us at the Professional Voice Care Center: the place to hone all your singing and speaking skills in a fun, professional, educational, and supportive atmosphere!

Voice Therapy

Who is Voice Therapy For?

Voice problems occur when vocal pitch, loudness, and/or quality are inadequate or inappropriate for communication. Often these problems are accompanied by pain or discomfort, vocal fatigue, vocal strain, or increased effort to produce voice, during or after speaking or singing. Causes and contributing factors include vocal abuse (e.g. yelling, speaking over noise or across a distance), misuse (e.g. using an excessively deep voice pitch), poor breath support patterns, dehydration, allergies, post-nasal drip, thyroid problems, stress, and laryngopharyngeal reflux (stomach acid backing up into the larynx). Signs of a voice problem can include hoarseness lasting more than two weeks, breathiness, frequent throat clearing, voice breaks, change in speaking pitch, loss of high singing range, and/or loss of vocal projection. Conditions relating to voice problems include swollen or thickened vocal folds (vocal cords), varices (swollen blood vessels), vocal fold hemorrhage, and lesions on the vocal folds such as nodules (“nodes”), polyps, cysts, or contact ulcers. Other conditions include paresis (weakness) or paralysis of the vocal folds, and functional dysphonia, i.e., the structure of the vocal folds is normal, but the muscles of the voice mechanism are being used with too much, or too little, force, resulting in voice problems.

Our Voice Therapy Program

At the Professional Voice Care Center, a licensed speech-voice pathologist evaluates your vocal function and designs an individualized program of vocal rehabilitation therapy, vocal hygiene and vocal abuse reduction to treat your voice problem. We can also help you adhere to an anti-reflux regimen of diet and lifestyle changes, if needed. Practice of effective techniques is reinforced through audio feedback, as well as computerized feedback. We create a customized home practice program and provide you with printed or CD-recorded therapy exercises. (You can even record the therapy exercises on your smart phone or tablet). Additionally, the speech pathologist works closely with your ear, nose, and throat (ENT) physician on your personalized voice treatment plan.

Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!

Accent Modification

If you find that a foreign or regional accent has become a hindrance in your professional or personal life, then you may wish to participate in an Accent Modification Program. The Center offers the Compton P-ESL Foreign Accent Improvement Program, recognized as one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind. You will receive an in-depth, individualized evaluation and phonetic analysis of your recorded speech. Your take-home materials include customized practice CDs, pronunciation handouts with target sounds, words, and sentences, and personalized vocabulary that you select from your personal or professional life. All evaluation and training programs for foreign accent modification are conducted by a speech-language pathologist who has been trained by the Institute of Language and Phonology to offer the Compton P-ESL Foreign Accent Improvement Program.

If you wish to reduce a regional accent such as a New York or Long Island accent, our customized Regional Accent Improvement Program can help you as well. (For “Noo Yawkuhs,” we offer our very own “Tawk of Lawng Island” accent modification program, featured in Newsday). With training and practice, we can all learn to speak with the “No-Accent” accent! Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!

Executive Speech Skills

The Importance of Executive Speech Skills

As an executive, attorney, salesperson, lecturer, or instructor, you are often called upon to make presentations.  However, even though you have thorough knowledge of the subject matter, your look is sharp, and you understand the client’s/audience’s needs, moments into the presentation you feel as if you’re not connecting.  Chances are there may be a problem with your voice.  Whether consciously or subconsciously, listeners are affected by your voice and speech patterns.  (Studies haves shown that the way your voice sounds is over five times more important than the content of your presentation, in terms of the impact you have on your listening audience!)

At the Professional Voice Care Center, a licensed speech-language pathologist works one-on-one with you to enhance your communication skills.  You will learn to be more conscious of how you speak and what words you use.  Accents, voice quality and pitch, even body language, gestures, and facial expression can be adjusted, using a combination of audio and video feedback.  We’ll offer you suggestions for overcoming nervousness, adding passion and pizzazz to your presentation style, and additional tips to improve public speaking skills.  You’ll be on your way to becoming the dynamic, powerful, and commanding speaker you’ve always wanted to be.  Let communication skills be a key, not a barrier, to your professional success.

Myofunctional Therapy

What is Myofunctional Therapy?

Myofunctional therapy is a specialized treatment for individuals experiencing a reverse swallowing pattern (commonly called a “tongue thrust”), which may be accompanied by problems with facial muscles (known as orofacial muscle imbalance), dental structure, and speech production.  If not treated, orofacial muscle imbalance and reverse swallowing pattern may result in malocclusion, relapse (i.e., shifting of the teeth) after orthodontic intervention, gum problems, facial pain, headaches, and speech problems such as lisping.

At our Center, a myofunctional therapist will evaluate your child’s orofacial muscle function and swallowing pattern. An individualized treatment program of speech and myofunctional therapy will then be designed for your child, to correct the swallowing pattern, remediate the speech sound errors, and retrain the oral and facial muscles.

Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!

Call Us to Schedule Today!

(516) 433-1822

If you want more information about any of our services, either at our Center or via Skype, feel free to fill out the form below. A Voice Care Coordinator will get back to you as soon as possible.

Recent Blog Posts

The Importance of Oral Communication

If you are looking to improve your oral communication skills and are also seeking singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information! 

Oral communication is extremely important in almost all aspects of life. It is one of the most essential skills that is needed in most academic and professional settings. It is also the most efficient way to pass on a message. In this day in age, technology allows us to not communicate as much orally. Many times this has people forgetting how important oral communication really is. 

Why is Having Strong Oral Communication Skills Important? 

The professional aspects of your life oral communication play a role in include:

• Managerial roles: To build a strong team with your colleagues, oral communication is extremely important when it comes to crisis management and teamwork. 
• Workplace: When talking to clients, customers, and coworkers, oral communication is needed for meetings, receiving/giving feedback, and asking questions. Strong oral communication skills help to get the job done smoothly and efficiently.
• Getting a new job: Efficient oral communication is key to having a successful job interview. Companies want their employees to be able to effectively communicate orally. 
• Career Advancement

 At Professional Voice Care Center, we provide singing lessons at home in Locust Valley in addition to helping you learn efficient oral communication techniques. 

Tips for Improving Your Oral Communication

There are many ways to improve your oral communication skills, and they can always be further improved! Some ways to improve these skills include: 

• Show others that you are understanding and listening to what they’re saying
• • Nodding your head
  • Use vocal prompts
  • Clarify that you are understanding

• Paying attention
  • Using direct eye contact when speaking
  • Do not think about your reply when they are speaking 
  • Interpret their body language
  • Do not redirect or interrupt the conversation 

• Using the full range of your voice
  • Our voice has many ranges, and the range we use it helps clarify our oral communication and the messages that we are trying to make. 
  • Speech, pitch, and tone are important when it comes to effective oral communication

Singing Lessons at Home in Locust Valley

Professional Voice Care Center can help you improve on all of these skills! We provide voice therapy that can help you with voice problems that may arise. Problems with pitch, loudness, and quality of voice can result in inadequate communication. These problems can also cause pain and discomfort. We use effective techniques to help your voice be in the best quality it can! If you are looking for singing lessons at home in Locust Valley or voice training, make an appointment with Karen Sussman at Professional Voice Care Center today! 

Vocal Training for Public Speaking

If you are in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, contact Karen Sussman at The Professional Voice Care Center today!

Public speaking is a vital skill that should be easy for everyone, however, many people struggle. Whether you notice it or not, public speaking is all around us, and it occurs every day. Due to public speaking being such an important life skill, you must know how to do it. Public speaking can be used for a variety of different things, however, the goal usually consists of: winning over a crowd, trying to motivate people, or to inform people. If you are looking for a place to help you improve your public speaking, take our singing lessons at home in Locust Valley. Professional Voice Care Center wants to ensure that you are confident and ready to speak in any public scenario.

Ways to Improve Your Public Speaking  

There are a few vocal warm-up and breathing exercises that can be done to improve your public speaking. These four warm-us can help your vocal muscles get ready:

• Hum to your favorite tune
• Run through some scales
  • do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do
• Pretend like you’re chewing gum using your upper and lower muscles.
  • If you chew slowly and gently, it will loosen your jaw.
• Move your tongue around your mouth. 
  • This will release the tension in the back of your tongue, ultimately, loosening and relaxing it.

These vocal warm-ups can be very useful before you try to change the world! If you follow these four steps, in order, you will see a great improvement in your breathing:

• First: stand up straight with your shoulders back and put your hands on your stomach, it will allow your stomach muscles to relax.
• Second: Breathe in through your nose, which fill up abdomen first, then your ribs, and up to your chin.
• Third: Hold your breath and count to 10. 
• Fourth: Exhale slowly.

This four-step breathing exercise can drastically help improve your public speaking. If you want to learn more vocal exercises or breathing techniques, sign up for our singing lessons at home in Locust Valley!

The Importance of Public Speaking  

Public speaking is an essential skill that people must have if they want to be more successful. Public speaking is imperative in the success of a business, improving your position at work, progress in your movement and beliefs, etc. There are plenty of reasons why public speaking is important, but some of them are:

• Lead to Promotion
• Reach a Large Audience Quickly
• Allows your Message to Come to Life
• Brings your Company Together
• Builds Your Confidence

These are some of the many reasons why public speaking is a very important skill. If you become a strong public speaker, a whole new door of opportunities will open up for you.

Singing Lessons at Home in Locust Valley

Public speaking is now becoming a required class in many public school districts around Long Island. Book an appointment with Professional Voice Care Center if you want to improve your public speaking with vocal training. The singing lessons at home in Locust Valley that we offer will help you become a more confident speaker.

Contact Us

(516) 433-1822

Fax: (888)-388-1934

184 West Nicholai Street
Hicksville, NY 11801
By Appointment Only

[email protected]

If you want more information about any of our services, either at our Center or via Skype, feel free to fill out the form below. A Voice Care Coordinator will get back to you as soon as possible.

We serve the Long Island and Greater New York City areas, including Hicksville, East Meadow, Plainview, Glen Head, Huntington, Brookville, Jericho, East Williston, Syosset, Old Westbury, Melville, Levittown, Garden City, Farmingdale, Bellmore, Massapequa, Wantagh, and more!

Are you in search of singing lessons at home in Locust Valley, then contact the Professional Voice Care Center today for more information!