Ep366 – Impact of Trauma on Sheri’s VoiceEp366 – Impact of Trauma on Sheri’s Voice
Untoxicated Podcast
Sheri talks openly about her chronic cough, throat pain and neck tension, linking them to years of trauma and stress around alcoholism and family dynamics. She describes how speech therapy, body work and reflection are helping her reclaim her voice while Matt reflects on his role and their shared recovery journey.
1:22:29•21 Sept 2026
Sheri’s Chronic Cough and the Hidden Voice of Trauma
Episode Overview
- Physical symptoms like chronic cough and throat pain can be closely linked to long-term stress and trauma.
- Speech and language therapy, including vocal exercises and neck and jaw work, may reduce strain and change entrenched patterns.
- Biting your tongue, people‑pleasing and suppressing emotion can contribute to tension in the throat and body over decades.
- Childhood dynamics and family criticism can shape how someone uses or silences their voice well into adulthood.
- Journalling and community support offer extra tools alongside medical care for those healing from addiction‑related trauma.
“"Trauma doesn't go away without healing effort, and we all deserve community."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how trauma shows up in the body and what healing actually looks like in everyday life. In this candid Untoxicated Podcast episode, you'll hear Sheri talk frankly about her chronic cough, throat pain and neck strain, and how years of living with Matt’s alcoholism, family dysfunction and constant nervous system activation may have lodged themselves quite literally in her voice.
Regular listeners will recognise Sheri’s cough, but here she traces it back through medical appointments, inconclusive tests and rising frustration. After ruling out things like polyps, heart issues and lung problems, a head and neck surgeon sends her to a speech and language pathologist. Sheri then walks through the surprisingly emotional process of vocal exercises, breathing work, and neck and jaw relaxation that feel silly and deeply exposing at the same time.
There’s plenty in here about the mental load carried by partners of alcoholics, the tendency to "bite your tongue" and people‑please, and how that can turn into chronic tension and pain. Sheri also touches on chakras, the vagus nerve, and how her throat issues echo patterns from childhood and her family of origin, not just the alcoholic marriage years.
Matt adds context from trauma research, admits he initially dismissed speech therapy as a minor fix, and owns his habit of insisting "it’s stress". Sheri shares the relief of being taken seriously by her therapist, alongside the disappointment that she still worries about Matt’s opinion of her self‑care. If you’ve ever had a "mystery" physical symptom during or after addiction chaos, this honest conversation might feel uncomfortably familiar—but also reassuring.
It’s a reminder that healing the body and voice can be part of recovery too. What hidden ways might your own history be showing up in your body, and are you ready to give yourself permission to tend to it?
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