Singing Montclair’s Praises

Broadway performer and voice teacher Cathryn Traphagen noticed that her daughter Eloise wasn’t talking and producing enough words for a 2-year-old. Traphagen had her tested and soon Eloise was working with a private speech therapist and with Montclair State University’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students.

It was during Eloise’s first appointment at Montclair’s Center for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology that Traphagen inquired about the SLP master’s program.

“I found that the work that they were doing in the therapy room was similar to the understanding of the voice and voice production and how I taught my students to sing,” she says. “And, I found that this career would be a great fit.”

When her daughters Eloise and Allegra were younger, she was able to spend time with them during the day and still perform on Broadway at night. As they grew older, however, it became more difficult to maintain her schedule as both a performer and voice teacher. Traphagen says she always knew she’d pursue a master’s degree but thought it would be in voice or theater performance. Speech-language pathology had also been a prior consideration but she wasn’t ready to give up a successful Broadway career – she’s performed in Les Misérables, Mamma Mia! and The Little Mermaid – in exchange for full-time studies. This time, however, she was ready.

Like other students without an undergraduate degree in speech, Traphagen entered a three-year clinical master’s program. Speech and audiology master’s students take classes for a full calendar year, including summers. “So it’s a very demanding master’s degree program,” she says.

Rosemary DeStephan, senior clinical supervisor for Communication Sciences and Disorders, says Traphagen has risen to the occasion. “Cathryn is an extremely hard-working, dedicated and knowledgeable student and student clinician,” she says. “She is creative and organized during therapy sessions and is engaging with both clients and caregivers.” DeStephan adds that Traphagen is “fully committed and does an excellent job at balancing school and family.”

During her clinical work at Montclair, Traphagen has worked with a professional R&B singer (she can’t disclose the singer’s identity due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, which protects patients’ privacy). She believes her years as a professional performer helped her help a fellow artist. The singer had a condition known as muscle tension dysphonia, which was affecting her singing and career.

“We worked on relaxation methods and ways to increase air flow and releasing her voice, and because I came with that background of being a singer, I was able to understand what that meant – as opposed to somebody who wasn’t a singer, who didn’t understand what it felt like when the voice was tight, or when you weren’t able to sing those higher notes,” she says. “So, it did help to have that experience.”

DeStephan agrees that Traphagen’s background has undoubtedly been an asset to her academic career. “The experience of both a professional singer and a parent of a child with a speech delay allows her to have an excellent perspective from the client and parent’s point of view.”

Earlier this semester during the John J. Cali School of Music’s Musicians Health Day, when DeStephan gave her annual presentation on promoting healthy vocal habits, she invited Traphagen to present alongside her, the first time she’s extended such an invitation. “I felt that Cathryn would be able to share her experiences as a professional voice user and stress the importance of vocal health,” DeStephan says.

Traphagen has also worked with clients who have had strokes, neurological or traumatic brain injuries resulting in voice, language, cognitive and even swallowing issues. “When people think about speech-language pathology, you think of somebody who helps kids with articulation or who helps singers repair their voice,” she says. “I thought the same thing when I first found out about the career; I didn’t know about the extent of work that speech-language pathologists do. We work with patients who have had strokes, who have had severe nerve damage, who have aphasia.” Traphagen and a fellow student were featured in Montclair Local when they facilitated the clinic’s Aphasia Book Club.

She also volunteers once a week at the Maywood Campus of the Adler Aphasia Center, a nonprofit center that provides services to seniors at no cost. There she works with a group of elderly clients. “We play games. It’s fun and it’s nice to be around that population and it helps you become more comfortable with and understanding of those with aphasia,” she says, “and that center does wonderful things.”

In the spring, she will do a clinical externship at Helen Hayes Hospital, where she will work in rehabilitative inpatient care. The summer semester will be an externship at a school, where she’ll work with students. Then graduation.

Traphagen is keeping her options open for her speech-language pathology future. She says she enjoys working with both pediatric and elderly clients and will decide after her externships. “I don’t know if I’m going to be specializing in voice. Ideally, that would sound great. But it just really depends on which area I think that I would excel more in and which would fit my lifestyle better,” she says.

Traphagen has received a grant from the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly the Actors Fund) and a scholarship from Montclair to help pay for tuition. She sings the praises of her professors, whom she describes as caring and supportive. “They are so knowledgeable and you really feel like you’ve become part of this family community as a part of this program. I’ve developed relationships that I hope I will keep throughout my life.”

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez. Photos by John LaRosa. Other photos courtesy of Cathryn Traphagen. Headshot by Dirty Sugar Studios.