Chirophonetic Therapy is an Anthroposophical body therapy that works with the sounds of human speech as a therapeutic means. It was developed in the 1970s by the speech therapist Dr. Alfred Baur in Linz, Austria. The therapy is based on the Anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. Alfred Baur studied in depth the forms which are shaped by the air flow in the mouth when speaking each sound, and he developed a way to stroke these forms onto the back of the patient.
Chirophonetic Therapy is based on the hidden powers of the sounds and rhythms of human speech. These are made effective as a therapeutic means by the sound forms developed by Alfred Baur. The therapist strokes the sound forms in a clear and rhythmic way onto the back and the limbs of the resting patient, while simultaneously speaking the sounds.
The term Chirophonetic Therapy means that the therapy uses the hands and the sounds (cheires and phone in classical Greek)