Therapeutic Listening®

Therapeutic Listening is an individualized sound training program founded
by Sheila M. Frick in 1997 that consists of equipment and materials that
have been designed to produce specific effects on auditory skills.  Auditory difficulties such as the inability to accurately perceive, process, and respond to sounds are often a part of other sensory, motor, attention, and learning difficulties affecting a large number of children and adults. Occupational therapists trained in working with children with sensory processing disorders have more recently begun incorporating sound-based technologies into their practices in order to approach the vestibular and auditory systems more directly. Listening is a function of the entire brain and thus, Therapeutic Listening® incorporates whole body treatment in combination with music. This method selectively combines a number of electronically altered compact discs, based on the ideas and technology created by Alfred Tomatis, Guy Berard, and Ingo Steinbech, within a Sensory Integrative frame of reference. Individual listening programs are created and customized by a trained occupational therapists, including type of music, length of treatment session, home
program and duration of the program. Therapeutic Listening can easily
be conducted at home, in school and in the clinic because it does not
involve sophisticated equipment.

• Sensory Processing Disorders
• Poor balance or coordination
• ADD/ADHD
• Autism/PDD
• Down Syndrome
• Learing Disabilities
• Perceptual difficulties
• Low muscle tone
• Communication difficulties

The initial therapeutic listening protocol includes an individually selected CD. The length of the modulated music program typically varies from 2 to 12 weeks. The child listens to the recommended CD twice daily for 20-30 minute sessions with a minimum of 3 hours between listening times. Activities that promote improved postural organization and movement are encouraged while listening. The selected CD is changed after 2 weeks of listening to prevent habituation. Listening can be continued as needed following the 8-12 week period but must continue to be monitored by the child’s therapist.

• Attention
• Organized behavior
• Self-regulation
• Postural control
• Coordination
• Fine-motor control
• Motor planning
• Oral motor skills and articulation
• Social skills and communication
• Visual motor skill development

OR

Improved regulation of sensory information
 

• Improved self-regulation
• Improvement in sleep/wake cycles
• Reduction of sensory sensitivities
• A “smoothing out” of mood variance
• Toilet training
• Cessation of bed wetting
• Increased regularity of hunger and thirst cycles
• Improved focus and attention

• Establishment of control at the middle of the body
• Ability to sustain control on stable and moving surfaces
• Improved control at the shoulder and hip joints
• Improved body awareness and posture
• Active use of rotation in movement patterns

• Improved coordination
• Improved articulation
• Improved fine-motor skill development

• Improved timing of motor skill execution
• Improved timing of social interactions
• Improved ability to maneuver through space
• Improved handwriting and drawing skills
• Improved discrimination of spatial concepts and directionality

• Greater range of nonverbal communication
• Nonverbal communication matches communicative intent
• Greater emotional expressiveness
• Improved response to speech signal (name, directions)
• Initiation of sound play and speech
• Improved performance in noisy environments
• More consistent performance across all environments
• More confident communicator

For more information, visit the official Therapeutic Listening website or contact Helping Hands Therapy, LLC. at the address or number listed on this page.