Paul Newham

Alfred Wolfsohn (1896–1962) was a German Jew who suffered persistent auditory hallucinations of screaming soldiers whom he had witnessed dying of wounds while serving as a stretcher bearer in the trenches of World War I at the age of eighteen.

After being subsequently diagnosed with shell shock, Wolfsohn did not recover in response to hospitalisation or psychiatric treatment but claimed to have cured himself by vocalising the extreme sounds of his hallucinations, bringing about what he described as a combination of catharsis and exorcism.

Wolfsohn was encouraged by the range and expressiveness of his voice, resulting from the vocal exercises and techniques he developed while attempting to heal the symptoms of trauma sustained during the war.

He subsequently began teaching others, acting as both a singing teacher and psychotherapist, seeking to combine the principles of both disciplines.

Newham empathised with Wolfsohn's post-war trauma, having been traumatised by the sounds of violent arguing between his mother and Derek Newham while growing up.

Therefore, he built upon and extended the endeavours begun at the Alfred Wolfsohn Voice Research Centre, aligning them with cognitive and psychophysiological principles.

Newham alleged that vocalising might have therapeutic benefits comparable to those achieved through expressive therapies, including drama therapy, music therapy, and dance movement therapy.

While writing a monograph about the work of Alfred Wolfsohn, Newham collaborated with the British author, archivist, and curator Leslie Shepard, who documented work undertaken at the Voice Research Centre through film, sound recordings, and illustrated written diaries.

Shepard also collected thousands of audio field recordings exemplifying diverse forms of music and song, including those from Africa, Asia, and the Americas, which he introduced to Newham.

These recordings inspired Newham to study how performing and listening to sacred words and music, including hymns, chants, and mantras, contributes to many indigenous forms of religious experience, spiritual practice, and traditional medicine.

Newham initially investigated how different types of recorded sound, including spoken words, music, and ambient noise, can affect a listener, potentially precipitating a range of responses, including relaxation, hypnagogia, and experiences comparable to those reportedly achieved through meditation.

Subsequently, he endeavoured to discover whether performing and listening to sacred and secular vocal arts, including prayers and ballads, might have a psychotherapeutic application.

Newham became particularly interested in the extensive range of vocal qualities that many indigenous peoples demonstrated.

Therefore, he endeavoured to research the expressive potential of the human voice, furthering work begun by Wolfsohn and situating it in the context of contemporary musicology, psychology, and physiology.

He began his research collaborating with Otorhinolaryngologist D. Garfield Davies at the Institute of Laryngology and Otology and School of Audiology allied to the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London, now part of the UCL Ear Institute.

Using various medical imaging techniques, including videostroboscopy, Garfield Davies filmed the vocal tract of vocalists as they made a broad range of sounds.

Newham then subjected these recordings to analysis, associating specific perceptual qualities, such as pitch, breathiness, and nasality, with correlating articulations of the vocal tract.

This research culminated in a methodological approach to interpreting and classifying the acoustic properties of vocal sound and facilitating flexible voice production, which is today incorporated into speech and language therapy, performing arts training, and the expressive therapies.

Meanwhile, management and medical professionals have adopted his approach to analysing vocal communication.

Newham began the practical application of his research while teaching young adults with special educational needs, including those with physical, learning, and developmental disabilities who could not articulate vocal sounds into intelligible speech, some of whom were members of Libra Theatre.

Newham's biological father was Bertold Paul Wiesner (1901–1972), an Austrian Jewish physiologist known firstly for his research into human fertility and the diagnosis of pregnancy, and secondly for coining the term 'Psi' in 1942, now widely used to signify parapsychological phenomena.

Newham is one among hundreds of children conceived through the artificial insemination of Wiesner's sperm, facilitated by his wife, Doctor Mary Barton, an obstetrician who founded one of the first private fertility clinics, which operated in London from the 1940s until its closure in 1967.

Barton and Wiesner falsely claimed that they procured sperm from a specially selected group of exceptionally intelligent anonymous donors, presuming their own identities would remain unknown after destroying all records of the clinic's clientele.

Paul Newham (born 16 March 1962) is a retired British psychotherapist known for developing techniques used in psychology and psychotherapy that make extensive use of the arts to facilitate and examine two forms of human communication: the interpersonal communication through which people speak aloud and listen to others, and the intrapersonal communication that enables individuals to converse silently with themselves.

His methods emphasise the examination of traumatic experiences through literary and vocal mediums of expression, including creative writing, storytelling, and song.

He is cited by peers as a pioneer in recognition of his original contribution to the expressive therapies.

Newham began by teaching young adults with physical and developmental disabilities, many of whom could not articulate speech, assisting them in combining instrumental music and nonverbal vocalisation as an expressive alternative to spoken communication.

Subsequently, he worked psychotherapeutically with adults who were verbally articulate but could not satisfactorily communicate their reactions to traumatic events using spoken words.

Therefore, Newham developed techniques that helped his clients understand the seemingly wordless nature of their distressing experience and express it through artistic mediums, including dance, music, and drama.

These techniques have been incorporated into professional practice by practitioners from diverse disciplines.

However, reports published by British Newspapers in 2012 alleged that Wiesner provided his own sperm for many procedures.

Subsequent DNA paternity testing of adults conceived at the clinic indicates that Wiesner may have sired more than 600 children by donating his sperm to artificial inseminations performed by Barton, of which Newham is one.

Others include British barrister David Gollancz and Canadian filmmaker Barry Stevens.

Newham grew up falsely believing that his mother's abusive husband, Derek Joseph Newham, was his biological father.

He frequently attempted to discern the subject of violent arguments between them as he listened in his bedroom, where only the timbre of their voices, including shouts, screams, and crying, was perceptible.

This experience inspired Newham to investigate the psychology of the human voice, initially focusing on nonverbal expressions of emotion.

Newham originally trained in Stanislavski's system of method acting at the Drama Centre in London, where he studied the analytical psychology of Carl Jung and the movement analysis of Rudolf Laban under the tutelage of Yat Malmgren.

After working in experimental theatre, Newham became interested in how the process of transformative arts can facilitate the well-being and empowerment of those who participate.

He subsequently trained at Dartington College of Arts, where he studied Authentic Movement with Mary Fulkerson, contact improvisation with Steve Paxton, and cultural psychology with Anne Kilcoyne before pursuing post-graduate research at the universities of Warwick and Exeter.

During his undergraduate studies at Dartington College of Arts, Newham was inspired by the life of German vocal coach Alfred Wolfsohn and the research conducted at the Alfred Wolfsohn Voice Research Centre.