Voice of reason
The reassuring tone of a counsellor, or radio host, may be important to psychiatric healing
- Published: 19 Feb 2013 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Life
Can a calm, patient and reassuring tone of voice have a positive impact on psychiatric patients' behaviour? While there hasn't been any substantial research conducted to prove this theory in Thailand, local medical experts say the voice is a powerful therapeutic tool if the conditions are right.
Judging from the experience of retired nurse Sunee Ekwattanapan, who worked with psychiatric patients at Srithanya Hospital for 30 years, the voice of popular radio host Rassamee Maneenil is a case in point. Back when Sunee headed the nurse station in the late 1990s, Rassamee's story-telling radio programme not only helped relax the nurses who were listening in, but amazingly a group of patients as well.
The format of the show was simple, the host read aloud excerpts from popular books while accompanied by soft background music. After listening to Rassamee's programmes a couple of times, the nurse was hooked. She found her voice mesmerising and calming. And Sunee came up with an idea.
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