Human bioacoustics

1. Introduction

Version followed: Human BioAcoustics / "BioAcoustic Biology" as Sharry Edwards and Sound Health / the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology (Albany, Ohio) describe it in the 2020 Sound Health catalogue, with the account in the authorised companion book by Jill Mattson (2011). The method is carried out by its own trained providers, and this guide covers the psychotherapist's work with a client who uses it. The psychotherapist does not perform, sell, prescribe or recommend it.

What it is, as its organisations describe it. Human BioAcoustics is presented as the study of sound and its effects on living organisms, literally "life sounds" [source: Mattson 2011]. Its central practice is Vocal Profiling: a recording of the person's voice is analysed by software that graphs the pitches and loudness in the voice; Edwards calls the resulting pattern the voice's "architecture" [source: Mattson 2011]. The theory, attributed to Edwards, holds that each muscle, organ, nutrient, toxin or other body material has a "frequency equivalent"; that when a person is unwell, individual pitches "stretch outside" the normal architecture or go missing; and that these "stressed" or missing frequencies can be read as "vocal codes" or "BioMarkers" pointing to underlying causes [source: Mattson 2011; Sound Health catalogue 2020]. Change, in the method's own account, happens when a "balancing" or "countervailing" tone, matched to what the analysis identified, is played back to the person (by voice, or through a programmable "tone box" via headphones or speakers), so that the body is brought back "in tune" [source: Mattson 2011; Crowdfunder practitioner page; Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119]. An earlier, more personal form of the idea is Edwards hearing a person's "signature sound", described as the sound missing from their voice, and singing it back [source: New Dimensions programme page]. These are the method's own attributed concepts, described here neither as fact nor as dismissed.

Origins as reported by its organisations. Edwards's account is that her work began when, during an audiology test, sounds she voiced appeared to lower the tester's blood pressure, followed by a study with an Ohio University school of nursing [source: Mattson 2011; uncertain: no published report of the study is cited]. She directs a non-profit research institute in Human BioAcoustics (named as the Sound Health Research Institute, where she is described as research director, holding a master's degree in education), which publishes its own Journal of BioAcoustic Biology and grants its own awards [source: New Dimensions; Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119].

Status in one line each.

Evidence status: no independent, peer-reviewed validation of Vocal Profiling as a way to detect health conditions, or of tone presentations as a treatment, appears in the cited sources; the method's support is its own institute's journal, case reports and testimonials [source: Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119; Sound Health catalogue 2020].
Health claims: its promotional material claims effects on "hopeless" medical situations, superbugs, vaccination damage and more, and has promoted voice-based screening for vaccine reactions; these are the organisation's claims, not established effects, and it is not a treatment for any physical disease [source: New Dimensions; Sound Health catalogue 2020; Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119].
Self-description: the organisation's website disclaimer (as quoted in 2010; the organisation's current site is SoundHealthOptions.com [source: Sound Health catalogue 2020]) says Human BioAcoustics does not diagnose or prescribe for medical or psychological conditions and does not claim to prevent, treat, mitigate or cure them [source: Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119; uncertain: current wording on the site may differ].

2. Framework

2a. How the method is delivered (as its organisations describe it)

[source: Sound Health catalogue 2020; Crowdfunder practitioner page; Mattson 2011]

Voice sample. The client speaks into a microphone; samples can be recorded in person or sent remotely, and remote sessions are offered by video call or screen-sharing.
Analysis. The provider edits the recording and uploads it to the Sound Health online portal. The software looks for "BioMarkers" and frequency patterns (the catalogue mentions views such as "Frequency Hits" and "Wave") and compares them against a database of frequency equivalents.
Report. The portal produces management reports suggesting possible "root causes", "metabolic maps" and "sound formulations". A UK provider's page describes multi-page reports covering nutrition, toxins, pathogens, hormones and emotional issues, with named evaluations including post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, seizures, cholesterol, blood clotting and "PreVaccination" risk factors.
Tone trials and presentations. The provider plays matched tones ("tone trials") and may programme a tone box, which the client hires or buys to listen to at home.
Re-check. A follow-up voice sample is compared with the first; the client is asked to report changes.

Formats sold to consumers include a voice-based "personality profile", a "health and wellness profile", a full evaluation with follow-up, and corporate "interview profiling" and employee-wellness days [source: Crowdfunder practitioner page]. Device settings, frequencies and listening schedules are deliberately not given here.

2b. Who practises it, training and certification

Training is sold by Sound Health / the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology in tiers (2020 catalogue, US dollars): an Apprentice level (application fee, temporary software access, electronic manual, online classes); a 2-day Technician course; "BioMarker Signatures" training with Edwards; a 5-day Research/Professional level ("BARA", BioAcoustics Research Associate) that includes software, a tone box and textbooks and prepares people to train others; and a BioAcoustic Master Class priced at several thousand dollars for wellness providers [source: Sound Health catalogue 2020]. Practitioner titles in use include Research Associate, Technician, Practitioner and Teacher; certification is issued by the institute itself, and no external accrediting body is named [source: Sound Health catalogue 2020; Crowdfunder practitioner page]. The institute has also run an affiliate programme [source: Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119].

2c. Regulation in the main jurisdictions

Practitioners: no statutory licence exists for "BioAcoustic" providers in the US or UK; anyone who completes the institute's training may offer it [synthesis; uncertain: no regulator page on this specific title verified].
US devices and software: FDA's General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices (final guidance, January 2026 version) covers low-risk products that promote a healthy lifestyle; software for wellness is outside the device definition only when it is unrelated to the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, prevention or treatment of a disease or condition. Voice software or tone devices marketed to detect or treat specific conditions would fall outside that wellness space [source: FDA general wellness guidance page; application to this product is synthesis]. No FDA or FTC action specifically against this method appears in the cited sources [source: Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119, as of 2010].
US advertising: the FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance (December 2022) requires health benefit claims in any medium to be backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence, generally randomised controlled human trials; testimonials and consumer surveys do not suffice [source: Covington summary of FTC guidance].
UK, EU, Canada, Australia: medical-device regulators (MHRA, national competent authorities, Health Canada, TGA) and advertising regulators (e.g. the ASA in the UK) govern diagnostic or therapeutic claims [uncertain: not verified for this method].

2d. Framework for the psychotherapist's own work alongside it

[synthesis, drawing on NCCIH guidance and the APA Ethics Code]

Phase 1, Ask and record (any session, usually intake and review points): routine, neutral question about complementary approaches; note what is used, by whom, cost and whether the doctor knows. Move on when the picture is recorded.
Phase 2, Understand (one to two sessions, folded into ordinary therapy): meaning, hopes, explanatory model, what the reports said and how the client feels about them. Move on when you can state the client's own reasons back to them and they agree.
Phase 3, Decide and coordinate (as needed): values-based decision support; with consent, liaison with the doctor or pharmacist. Move on when the client has made an informed choice and medical care is not being displaced.
Phase 4, Monitor risk (throughout): delay of medical care, children, pregnancy, eating-disorder patterns, money, group pressure, health anxiety. Escalate at any point if risk appears.

No separate session count applies; this work sits inside the existing therapy contract.

3. Guiding principles

The therapist does not practise, sell, prescribe or recommend it. Never record voices for analysis, interpret profiles, play tones as treatment or refer to a provider. [source: APA 2.01, 2.04]
Curiosity without judgement. Ask in the same tone you use for sleep or alcohol, so clients tell you. [source: NCCIH tips]
Attribute, do not adjudicate. Describe "frequency equivalents" and "missing sounds" as the method's ideas; neither affirm them as fact nor mock them. [synthesis]
Medical care is not displaced. Your priority is that diagnosis and treatment stay with the doctor; an unproven method should not delay seeing one. [source: NCCIH, Are You Considering]
Autonomy with information. The adult client decides; your role is to make sure the decision is informed and their own. [source: APA 10.01; synthesis]
Stay in your lane on medicines and supplements. Report-driven questions about supplements, diet or medication go to the prescriber or pharmacist. [source: NCCIH tips; synthesis]
Coordinate with consent. Share only what is needed, with the client's agreement, except where law requires otherwise. [source: APA 3.09, 4.05]
No conflicts of interest. Do not train in, sell, take affiliate income from, or co-market this or any product with clients. [source: APA 3.05, 3.06, 3.08]
Psychological content stays in therapy. If a voice report names trauma, "emotional issues" or a personality profile, explore what it means to the client; it is not an assessment you rely on. [source: APA 2.04; synthesis]
Safeguard children and the vulnerable. Voice-based "vaccination risk" or illness screening applied to a child is a safeguarding consideration if it leads to withheld care. [synthesis]
Know where to report. Misleading health claims and unsafe products have regulators; you do not have to adjudicate the science to report a concern. [source: FTC guidance summary; NCCIH, Are You Considering]

4. Intervention inventory

All interventions below are the psychotherapist's own work alongside the client's use of Human BioAcoustics. None involves recording, analysing or playing sounds. [source per item; synthesis where marked]

4.1 Routine, non-judgemental inquiry and recording

Purpose / when: find out whether the client uses voice analysis, tone boxes or other sound-based health services, so nothing relevant to their care is hidden. Use at intake, at reviews, and whenever health, money or new "reports" come up. [source: NCCIH tips; synthesis]
Steps: (1) Ask about complementary approaches in the same list as sleep, exercise and alcohol. (2) If yes, ask what it is called, who provides it, what was done (voice sample, report, tones, device at home), what it cost, and whether their doctor knows. (3) Record it neutrally in the notes, using the method's own name ("Human BioAcoustics / Vocal Profiling via Sound Health provider"). (4) Note any medical decisions linked to it.
Example language (illustrative): "Lots of people use things alongside regular medical care: supplements, apps, sound or energy approaches. Is there anything like that you're using at the moment?" / "You mentioned a voice report. Can you tell me what that involved?"
Watch for: hesitation or embarrassment (normalise; you ask everyone); a client testing whether you will scoff. Working: the client mentions new reports or tone programmes on their own initiative later.

4.2 Exploring meaning, hopes and the explanatory model

Purpose / when: understand what draws the client to the method and how they understand their problem, before any decision work. Use once use is disclosed, and when the client speaks about the reports with strong feeling. [synthesis]
Steps: (1) Ask the client to explain the method in their own words (e.g. "my voice shows what's missing"). (2) Ask what they hope it will do and what they fear if it does not. (3) Explore what it offers that medical care has not: being listened to, a personal "signature", a sense of control, an explanation for unexplained symptoms, hope after a bleak diagnosis, distrust of doctors, belonging to a community or an identity as a "sound healer". (4) Reflect the meaning back without endorsing the mechanism. (5) Link to therapy goals where relevant (e.g. need for control, feeling dismissed by services).
Example language (illustrative): "How does it make sense to you, that your voice could show this?" / "What was it like when the report seemed to explain things nobody else had?" / "If this didn't help, what would that mean for you?"
Watch for: the explanatory model replacing medical assessment ("I don't need the scan, my profile shows it's a toxin"); idealisation of the provider; despair underneath the hope. Working: the client can hold their hopes and their uncertainty together and talk about both.

4.3 Responding when a client brings a voice report into therapy

Purpose / when: a client shows you a Vocal Profile or "personality profile" listing nutrients, toxins, pathogens, hormones, "emotional issues", PTSD or brain-injury findings and asks what you think. [source for report contents: Crowdfunder practitioner page; Sound Health catalogue 2020; response is synthesis]
Steps: (1) Thank them for sharing it; ask what they took from it and how it left them feeling. (2) Say clearly that you are not trained in this method and cannot interpret it, and that it is not something you use for psychological assessment. (3) For anything physical (nutrition, toxins, blood clotting, seizures, cholesterol, vaccination risk), invite them to take it to their doctor; offer to help them prepare questions. (4) For psychological content (e.g. "trauma" or "anxiety" themes), explore the client's own experience, independent of the report; use your usual assessment if a diagnosis is in question. (5) Note the discussion.
Example language (illustrative): "I can't read this the way the person who made it does, and I don't use voice analysis to understand people. What I'd like to understand is what it meant to you." / "The part about blood clotting sounds like a question for your GP; would it help to plan how to raise it?"
Watch for: the report confirming a feared illness and raising health anxiety (see 4.7); a report "diagnosing" trauma that the client then searches their memory to find (explore gently, avoid suggestion); pressure on you to validate or dismiss. Working: the client separates "what the report says" from "what I know about myself and what my doctor has checked".

4.4 Supporting an informed, values-based decision

Purpose / when: the client is deciding whether to start, continue, pay more for (e.g. buy a tone box, take further training) or stop using the method, or whether to let it guide medical choices. [source: NCCIH, Are You Considering; APA 10.01; synthesis]
Steps: (1) Clarify the decision in one sentence. (2) Elicit the client's values (e.g. self-reliance, safety, money for family, wanting to try everything). (3) Walk through the questions NCCIH suggests anyone ask: what evidence beyond personal stories supports the claim; who is the source and could they be biased; have government agencies reported on it; is it described with "miracle" language; what the practitioner's training is; will they work with my other providers. (4) Ask what it costs now and over time, and what else that money is for. (5) Ask what they would want to happen with their medical care either way. (6) Summarise their reasoning back and let them decide; record that the decision is theirs.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's lay out what matters most to you here, and then the questions you'd want answered before spending more." / "Whatever you decide about the sound sessions, how do you want your doctor's care to fit in?"
Watch for: your own bias steering the client (a decision-support stance, not persuasion); coercion from family in either direction. Working: the client can name their reasons, the costs, and how medical care continues.

4.5 Coordinating with the client's doctor or pharmacist

Purpose / when: a report has prompted changes to diet, supplements or medication, or the client is reconsidering a medical treatment or vaccination; or symptoms need medical review. [source: NCCIH tips; APA 3.09, 4.05; synthesis]
Steps: (1) Encourage the client to tell their doctor and pharmacist about everything they use, at every visit, with a written list; offer to help them write it. (2) If liaison by you would help, obtain written consent naming what you will share and with whom. (3) Share the minimum: that the client uses a voice-analysis service, what changes they are considering, and any psychological factors (e.g. health anxiety). (4) Never advise the client yourself to start, stop or change a medicine, supplement or remedy; direct them to the prescriber or pharmacist. (5) Record the consent and the contact.
Example language (illustrative): "Your doctor and pharmacist need the whole picture, including anything the report suggested. Shall we draft a list now?" / "I'm not the right person to say whether to change that supplement. That's one for your pharmacist."
Watch for: the client asking you to keep it from the doctor (explore the fear of being judged); reports recommending supplements that may interact with medicines. Working: the doctor knows, and medical decisions are made with them.

4.6 Recognising and responding to risk

Purpose / when: throughout, because the method's claims reach into serious illness, vaccination, children and money. [source for claims and costs: Sound Health catalogue 2020; Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119; Crowdfunder practitioner page; responses are synthesis]
Steps: screen for and respond to each of these:
- Delay or refusal of medical care (e.g. relying on tones for a serious illness): name the concern directly and kindly, explore what stands between the client and their doctor, help them plan the appointment; NCCIH warns that not starting or stopping conventional treatment can have serious consequences.
- Vaccination decisions from voice screening: the method has promoted software said to predict vaccine reactions. Encourage discussion with the GP or paediatrician; where a child's care is affected, follow 4.6 children.
- Children: a child given voice-based "diagnoses", or kept from medical assessment, treatment or vaccination because of them, raises safeguarding questions; consult your safeguarding lead and follow local procedures. Children's assent and parents' consent both matter.
- Pregnancy: ensure antenatal care is not being replaced by voice reports.
- Eating-disorder patterns: reports listing nutritional "deficits" or "toxins" can feed restriction or orthorexic rules; screen for restriction, weight change, food fear and compensatory behaviour, and involve the medical team if present.
- Financial harm and recruitment: tiered trainings up to several thousand dollars, device purchase or hire, repeated evaluations, an affiliate programme; ask about debt, pressure to buy or to train in order to sell.
- Group or provider pressure: loyalty to a provider or community that discourages medical care or discourages questions; look for isolation and fear of disapproval.
- Employment use: voice "interview profiling" in hiring or workplace wellness; support the client to ask how results are used and stored.
Example language (illustrative): "I'm worried that the scan your doctor wanted hasn't happened yet. Can we talk about what's getting in the way?" / "How much has this cost so far, and how is that sitting with you?"
Watch for: minimising ("it's only sound, it can't hurt"). The sound itself is not the main risk; displaced care and money are. Working: risks are named, medical care is in place, and safeguarding is actioned where needed.

4.7 Health anxiety, somatic symptoms and environmental intolerance

Purpose / when: repeated voice evaluations, reports of hidden "toxins" or "pathogens", or re-checks looking for change can become reassurance-seeking and checking that maintain health anxiety or somatic symptom distress. Use when the client is preoccupied with illness, seeks repeated profiles, or attributes symptoms to environmental exposures. Cross-reference Domain II for the full protocols. [synthesis; Domain II]
Steps: (1) Assess with your usual tools for health anxiety and somatic symptom presentations; make sure medical assessment of new or changing symptoms has happened. (2) Build a shared formulation: trigger, catastrophic interpretation, checking or reassurance-seeking (including profiles and re-checks), short-term relief, long-term maintenance of worry. (3) Agree, as the client chooses, an experiment in reducing checking of all kinds (internet, body, tests, profiles), without making it about the method's truth. (4) Use the established cognitive-behavioural and acceptance-based work set out in Domain II. (5) Keep one consistent medical point of contact.
Example language (illustrative): "After each new report, what happens to the worry over the next few days?" / "This isn't about whether the report is right. It's about whether checking, of any kind, is keeping the fear going."
Watch for: the client experiencing the formulation as dismissal of their symptoms (validate the distress, keep medical review open); new "findings" restarting the cycle. Working: less checking, less time preoccupied, more valued activity.

4.8 Working with a client who trains in or sells the method

Purpose / when: the client has bought or is considering a training tier, is working towards practitioner or teacher status, or earns through an affiliate arrangement. [source for training tiers and affiliate programme: Sound Health catalogue 2020; Skeptic's Dictionary newsletter 119; work is synthesis]
Steps: (1) Explore what the role means: purpose, identity, income, belonging, a way of making sense of their own illness. (2) Look at the finances plainly: spend to date, expected income, debt. (3) Explore pressure to recruit or to upgrade tiers. (4) If they offer services to vulnerable people, explore how they would respond if a customer had a serious symptom, without telling them how to run their business. (5) Decline to become their client, referral source or customer.
Example language (illustrative): "What does becoming a practitioner mean to you, beyond the work itself?" / "What would need to be true financially for this to feel like a good decision a year from now?"
Watch for: sunk-cost reasoning; offers to profile you or your other clients (decline, see 4.9). Working: the client weighs the role against their own values and finances.

4.9 Holding the professional boundary

Purpose / when: the client asks you to listen to their tones in session, to look at their software, to recommend a provider, or to try a profile yourself; or you are tempted to add voice analysis to your own practice. [source: APA 2.01, 2.04, 3.05, 3.06, 3.08]
Steps: (1) Decline warmly and explain why: you are not trained in it, it is outside your scope, and you keep your role clear. (2) Do not take referral fees, products or training discounts. (3) If a client finds sound calming, explore what the calm gives them and offer your usual evidence-based relaxation or grounding work instead of their device in session [synthesis]. (4) Document the request and response.
Example language (illustrative): "I can see this matters to you. I'm going to keep my part to the therapy we do together, and leave the sound work outside it, so I'm clear about my role."
Watch for: the client feeling rejected; repair by returning to what matters to them (4.2). Working: the client continues to talk openly about their use.

4.10 Reporting routes

Purpose / when: you become aware of claims that the method diagnoses or treats disease, of products sold with misleading health claims, of a person being harmed, or of a child at risk. [source: NCCIH, Are You Considering; FTC guidance summary; FDA general wellness guidance; others uncertain: not verified]
Steps: (1) Discuss with the client first wherever safe; reporting by the client is often best. (2) Choose the route: advertising and consumer protection (US: FTC; UK: Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards) for misleading health claims; device regulators (US: FDA; UK: MHRA; Canada: Health Canada; Australia: TGA) for devices or software marketed to diagnose or treat; a practitioner's statutory regulator if they hold another regulated licence; local safeguarding for children or adults at risk. (3) Keep to the facts you know. (4) Consult your supervisor or professional body, and follow confidentiality law and APA 4.05 or your local equivalent. (5) Document.
Example language (illustrative): "From what you've told me, the claims made to you may not be lawful. Would you like help working out who to tell?"
Watch for: breaching confidentiality unnecessarily; reporting being experienced as punishment by the client. Working: the concern reaches the right body and the therapeutic relationship holds.

5. Handling problems

None of the method's own sources address psychotherapy; all guidance in this section is [synthesis] unless marked.

Client feels judged and goes quiet about it. Repair: name that you may have sounded dismissive, restate that you ask everyone and that your aim is their whole picture of care, then return to curiosity (4.2).
Client wants you to say it works. You can say you are not in a position to vouch for it and that you know of no independent studies supporting it; keep the focus on their experience and on medical care staying in place.
Client wants you to say it is nonsense (often after spending money). Avoid joining a verdict; explore regret, shame and anger; look at what they want now. Support complaints or refunds if they wish (see 4.10).
Stuck: client relies on reports and will not see a doctor. Explore the barrier (past dismissal, fear of a diagnosis, cost, mistrust). Use a values conversation (4.4). Offer practical help planning the appointment. If capacity is in doubt or risk is high, consult and escalate.
Family conflict. One family member uses the method; another is alarmed. See them separately or together as appropriate; keep to shared goals (health, respect, money) rather than the mechanism. With children involved, safeguarding comes first (4.6).
Overwhelm after a frightening report. Ground the client, slow down, separate what is known (medical findings) from what the report claims, and plan a medical review if needed. Watch for panic and health-anxiety cycles (4.7).
Non-adherence to therapy because of competing sessions or costs. Name the trade-off openly and let the client prioritise; review therapy goals together.
Rupture over your boundary (you declined to listen to tones, recommend a provider or be profiled). Validate the disappointment, restate the reason as care for your role rather than criticism of them, and repair through the work that matters to them.
Report includes psychological labels (PTSD, "emotional issues"). Avoid suggestive questioning about trauma the client does not remember; assess in the ordinary way and let the client's own history guide you.
Client in a provider community that discourages questions. Explore belonging and loss gently; watch for isolation, financial pressure and fear of leaving; see Domain XII entries on group dynamics where available.
Your own reactions. Notice irritation, rescuing or fascination; use supervision, especially if you feel pressure to agree or to argue.
When a client is dying or seriously ill and chose this instead of treatment. Work with grief, regret and family conflict; liaise with palliative or medical teams with consent. Do not re-litigate the choice.

Sources

Web sources:

Books:

Mattson, J. (2011). Secret Sounds ~ Ultimate Healing: Your Personal Guide to a Better Life using Sharry Edwards' Revolutionary "Secret Sounds". Oil City, PA: Wings of Light.
Edwards, S. K., & Trivieri, L., Jr. Breaking the Sound Barriers of Disease: How Human BioAcoustic Sound Healing Can Improve All Aspects of Your Health (hardcover). Sound Health Research. ISBN 9780963187857 [uncertain: year not confirmed].

The 2020 Sound Health catalogue gives SoundHealthOptions.com as the organisation's website. Further points marked uncertain: the current disclaimer wording on that site; MHRA, ASA, Health Canada and TGA positions on this method [uncertain].

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