Yonca Berk-Giray, MS, CCC-SLP
Medical Speech-Language Pathologist
Yonca specializes in treating:
- Adult speech language disorders
- Voice and upper airway disorders
- Dysphagia/swallowing difficulties
- Cognitive disorders following concussions, head injuries, and neurologic conditions
- Breathing difficulties including exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction and paradoxical vocal cord dysfunction
- Head and neck cancer-related speech, swallowing and voice disorders
- Chronic cough
Resume Highlights
- Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy, Hacettepe University, Ankara/Turkey
- Master of Science degree in Speech/Language Pathology, Boston University, Boston/MA
- Certificate of Clinical Competence, American Speech and Hearing Association
- Lee Silverman Voice Therapy certification, in person and telepractice
- VitalStim certification for dysphagia Management
- Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile (MBSImP) certification
- CIAO Myofacial Release for Dysphagia and Dysphonia management training
Yonca Berk-Giray is a speech language pathologist (SLP) and a former physical therapist with 32 years of experience. She graduated from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy. She attended Boston University and graduated with Master of Science in Speech/Language Pathology.
She treats a diverse population ranging in age from teens to geriatric. Her areas of specialty include voice and upper-airway disorders, swallowing disorders, cognitive disorders and adult speech/language disorders. She has worked in acute care, acute rehab, brain–injury day treatment program, skilled nursing, home health care and outpatient settings in Portland, Lewiston, Brunswick, and overseas.
Yonca enjoys sharing her skills with her colleagues and aspiring students. She has presented in national and international conferences on voice, swallowing, and speech/language disorders. She has also taught an undergraduate swallowing disorders course for one of the leading medical schools in Turkey.
Yonca is a firm believer in treating the whole person and utilizes patient-centered multifaceted, functional treatment approaches to meet her patients’ needs.
When she is not in the office caring for her patients, Yonca is outside enjoying Maine’s great outdoors during every season, and occasionally on a farther-flung adventure such as the Alaska one pictured here. She is an avid runner, cyclist, kayaker, sailor, cross-country skier, and hiker. When the weather forces her to stay indoors, she enjoys knitting and weaving. She loves to tend her gardens in the summer and enjoys cooking meals for her family and friends.
