Communication and Sound Therapy

There are many aspects to verbal communication and social interaction with others. To communicate well on a verbal level, one must be able to:

• Hear well
• Translate thoughts into words with fluency
• Speak well
• Feel confident in themselves
• Desire to make contact

Difficulties in any one of these areas restrict the subtle exchanges needed for easy conversation.

Hearing and speech

When hearing is impaired, speech is also affected. Dr Tomatis demonstrated that if certain sound frequencies are missing from the hearing, those same frequencies will be missing from the voice. The voice cannot produce a sound that we cannot hear, because self-listening is integral to voice production (this relationship has been named "The Tomatis Effect").

Therefore when hearing is impaired, the voice becomes monotone and lifeless and lacks the qualities to inspire active listening in others. As Sound Therapy repairs distortions in the listening curve, the range and quality of the voice is also enhanced.

Stuttering

Stuttering is another failure of the self-listening cycle. Poor lateralization, meaning the co-ordination of the right and left ears with the cerebral hemispheres, causes a delay in the speaking and self listening cycle. A transcerebral delay time in the order of 0.15 seconds will result in a stutter.

Sound Therapy encourages right laterality by feeding more sound into the right ear. The right ear, as opposed to the left, is more directly linked to the left hemisphere of the brain, which is the language centre. Therefore, when the right ear becomes the directing ear, the delay is removed, and the stutter can be overcome.

Studies with stutterers have indicated the effectiveness of Sound Therapy in 82% to 100% of cases (Van Jaarveld, 1973 & 1974).

Active listening

Early in his research, Dr Tomatis discovered that the results of hearing tests varied greatly depending on the subject's motivation to demonstrate a good or bad level of hearing. He discovered a voluntary, though unconscious, element to our ability to hear.

Listening means that we direct our ears to actively tune in to selected sounds. A person who cannot tune in some sounds and tune out others will be unable to follow a conversation in a noisy environment and may therefore appear standoffish or anti-social. This is sometimes called the "Cocktail Party Syndrome".

Sound Therapy re-educates the selective ability of the ear, enabling listening to become a focused, motivated response to sound.

Psychological opening

The evolution of our listening ability plays a vital role in our social and psychological development from an early age. Psychological blocks are often accompanied by a closing down of some elements of the listening process. Interruption in the development of the listening function at an early age can result in emotional withdrawal or maladjustment and may produce severe behavioural or learning problems.

As the ear is reintroduced to high frequency sound through Sound Therapy, an opening can happen simultaneously on both an auditory and psychological level. This frequently leads to the resolution of chronic emotional patterns and increases one's willingness to reach out and connect with others.

Sound Therapy also improves the efficiency of the brain in interpreting auditory information. People often notice an improved ability to express their thoughts and an increase in memory and concentration.