"You can't change your voice without your life coming along for the ride." — Barbara McAfee
What if your voice already knows what part of you needs attention — you just have to make the sound and listen? In this episode of The Curious Empath, I sit down with Barbara McAfee: singer, songwriter, voice teacher, author of two books on voice work, and the leader of a "comfort choir" of volunteers who sing for people who are dying, sick, or grieving.
We start at the threshold — literally. Barbara talks about the retreats she leads on music, death, and dying, how she stumbled into death doula work at her father's bedside at 31, and why she believes grief and joy have always lived in the same room. We talk about a grief ritual she helped hold for hundreds of people at a singing camp in Iowa, and the collective grief so many of us are carrying right now.
From there we go into Barbara's Five Elements Framework — a way of understanding the voice through Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Air, each with its own archetype, gift, and shadow side. We talk about the parts of our voices that go "offline" under trauma, culture, and gender norms; how reclaiming a silenced part of your voice is really a form of soul retrieval; and how Barbara can often hear someone's deepest gift — calm under pressure, seeing the future, cutting insight — just by the way they talk.
This is a conversation about sound, grief, gender, gifts, and what it means to let your whole voice — and your whole self — come home.
Connect with Barbara - Website - Ted Talks - Instagram - Patreon - "Oh For Crying Out Loud" Song
Connect with Catherine - Website - Substack - Soul Retrieval
I'm Catherine — counselor, mystic, and neurodiverse adventurer living on the Emerald Coast of Florida. I help people define their neurodiversity, trust themselves, and live fully connected to Self and Source. I’d love to hear from you and walk alongside you on your journey.
With a full heart,
Catherine
