As a healthcare professional specializing in speech, physical, or occupational therapy, staying up to date with effective treatment techniques is crucial. The LSVT LOUD® and LSVT BIG® Training & Certification Courses offer more than just expertise in treating Parkinson’s disease – they provide a robust foundation for addressing a wide range of neurological conditions across the lifespan with confidence.
Expanding Your Therapeutic Toolkit
While LSVT LOUD and LSVT BIG were initially developed for individuals with Parkinson’s disease, these techniques have been documented to be beneficial for select clients with various neurological conditions through case study, single-subject, and small group design research. These studies and clinical applications include adults and children with a range of diagnoses including:
- Multiple sclerosis
- Atypical Parkinson’s
- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
- Ataxia
- Down syndrome
- Cerebral palsy
- Primary progressive apraxia of speech
- Laryngeal dystonia
- Balance and falls
As part of LSVT Training and Certification course, clinicians are taught critical thinking skills in terms of neuro rehabilitation. Understanding the core concepts of LSVT helps clinicians know when and how to apply LSVT principles across diverse patient populations, expanding the scope of this therapeutic approach. Further, these critical thinking skills can reduce the apprehension that some clinicians feel when treating clients with complex neurological disorders.
Integrating Three Core Concepts of LSVT LOUD and LSVT BIG
1: Target – Focus on Amplitude (Vocal Loudness or Movement Bigness)
For clients with Parkinson’s who have soft voices and small movements, the essential goal of amplitude is to increase motor output by training increased vocal loudness and movement amplitude. In other populations, the focus on amplitude may be to improve weakness, instability, variability, fatigue, etc. Using healthy vocal loudness and movement amplitude as a singular target of therapy can provide a solid foundation for improved communication and movement.
These charts give high level examples of how a treatment target of healthy vocal loudness or movement amplitude may be beneficial for diverse neurological etiologies.
2: Mode of Delivery – Practical Application of the Principles of Neuroplasticity
The principles underlying LSVT techniques are broadly applicable, focusing on intensive, high-effort exercises that promote neuroplasticity and functional improvements. The LSVT LOUD and LSVT BIG courses help therapists learn practical ways to apply neuroplasticity principles to treatment in a variety of diagnoses.
- Intensive delivery: Intensive practice is important for maximal plasticity.
LSVT treatments train individual 1-hour/day, 4 days/week, for 4 weeks as a minimum dosage. Within treatment LSVT trains maximum perceived effort during exercises and supplements sessions with daily homework and carryover exercises.
- Repetition: Induction of plasticity requires sufficient repetition.
LSVT treatment sessions include multiple repetitions (15 or more) of each of the daily exercises and functional phrases/components. Within repetitions there is incorporation of increased resistance, amplitude (within healthy range) effort, and accuracy. Multiple repetitions of meaningful communication and movement hierarchies are also practiced.
- Complexity: Complex movements or environmental enrichment have been shown to promote greater structural plasticity.
LSVT trains complexity of movement with single client focus (LOUD or BIG) to multiple, motor tasks. Treatment activities progress in complexity over four weeks by varying contexts, adding dual cognitive/motor loads, and increasing duration and difficultly of speech, movement, gait and fine motor tasks
- Saliency: Practicing rewarding tasks (success/emotionally salient) promotes plasticity.
LSVT trains meaningful and personalized speech and movement activities with extensive positive feedback. Treatment incorporates individualized treatment goals and materials to enhance engagement and plasticity. We provide homework and carryover exercises that reinforce the success of LOUD and BIG in emotionally salient social interactions.
- Use it or Lose it: Failure to drive specific brain functions can lead to functional degradation.
Lack of or reduced speech or movement activities in any diagnosis can lead to accelerated degeneration or loss of function. LSVT encourages clients to engage in early treatment with follow-up as needed for improving and maintenance of functions.
- Use it and Improve it: Training that drives a specific brain function can lead to an enhancement of that function.
LSVT LOUD and LSVT BIG retrain a new way of speaking and moving in everyday life, thus, normal activity offers continuous exercise.
3: Calibration – Addressing the Barriers to Generalization
In Parkinson’s, clinicians help clients recognize that a louder voice and larger movements are within normal limits, even if they feel exaggerated. This addresses the sensory and internal cueing deficits hallmark to the movement disorder in Parkinson’s. Beyond Parkinson’s, clients with other diagnosis also need to relearn the right amount of effort for normal loudness and movement amplitude. The LSVT Training courses teach clinicians how to train clients in self-cueing and attention to action, which facilitates long-term maintenance of treatment outcomes – a key aspect of neuroplasticity.
Real-World Application
The skills acquired through LSVT certification translate directly to clinical practice. You’ll learn how to:
- Assess and treat a wide range of motor speech and movement disorders
- Develop individualized treatment plans
- Monitor and document patient progress effectively
By applying these skills across various neurological conditions, you’ll find your confidence growing with each successful intervention.
Conclusion
Taking the LSVT LOUD or LSVT BIG Training & Certification Course is an investment in your professional growth that extends far beyond treating Parkinson’s disease. It equips you with versatile, evidence-based techniques that can be applied to a broad spectrum of neurological disorders. As you integrate these skills into your practice, you’ll find yourself approaching each new patient with increased confidence, knowing you have the tools to make a significant impact on their quality of life.