Auditory Processing Therapy

San Jose Counseling and Psychotherapy

Auditory Processing Therapy combines brain research and the latest technologies that provides both educational and self-improvement benefits.

When done in conjunction with other natural remedies, like therapy and lifestyle counseling, auditory processing therapy can be even more powerful.

When someone experiences stress or anxiety, as so many with auditory processing disorders do, it makes listening and communicating more difficult. In fact, adults with auditory processing issues report having a variety of anxiety problems and disorders, including social anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, and panic attacks.

How Auditory Processing Therapy Helps

In both children and adults, auditory problems may be identified by speech and language problems, sensitivity to sounds, poor attention, difficulty following directions, difficulty expressing oneself, difficulty with listening comprehension as well as reading comprehension, difficulty with social interactions, or auditory self-stimulation, such as constant humming or self-talk.

Children who have had a history of ear infections or chronic middle ear fluid are at a higher risk for having difficulties in auditory perception and processing. These problems generally persist into adulthood.

In adults, auditory problems may manifest as difficulty retaining auditory information, inattentiveness, sound sensitivity, or speech, language, and voice difficulties.

For individuals who have hearing loss, auditory processing therapy can be an important to aid in improving the functional use of their hearing. In also helps musicians to improve their tone by exercising the structure of the ear and affecting the way the brain processes sound.

Therapeutic Listening: The Listening Program

Auditory Processing Therapy can help children and adults by lessening these difficulties and improving the their listening capabilities. I use a number of techniques for Auditory Processing Therapy.

One of the most effective is the Listening Program, a treatment that is administered through treated music and special headphones.

The Listening Program combines decades of clinical research in several fields, including neurology, physiology, psychoacoustics, auditory processing, music theory and more. The method builds on the work of respected leaders in these fields, including French ear surgeon, Alfred Tomatis.

Over forty years ago, Tomatis, made a series of groundbreaking discoveries about the role of the ear and hearing in brain development and organization. We now know that, before birth, the human brain’s first sensory experiences are the rich sounds inside the womb. Tomatis showed that our auditory nerve is fundamental to human neurology; it helps to regulate not only balance and spatial orientation, but even vision and our tactile senses.

Auditory Processing Therapy and Psychotherapy

Among other discoveries, Dr. Tomatis helped identify the relationship between certain sound frequencies and their effect on functions of the mind and body.

A simplified explanation of Dr. Tomatis’ findings shows that certain bands, or zones, of sound frequencies affect different abilities. One of his greatest innovations was to find new ways to stimulate the ear and brain that can improve hearing, learning, and behavior.

Numerous studies worldwide, including research at the University of Sheffield in the UK, provide empirical evidence that substantiate the Listening Program’s efficacy. Although the Listening Program is a program that can benefit anyone, it is especially useful for individuals who have difficulties in the areas of auditory perception, processing, and memory.

The Listening Program has been used successfully in the treatment of a wide variety of problems, including depression, anxiety, addiction, autism, attention disorders, memory difficulties, and sensory integration problems. I often recommend the Listening Program be combined with other therapies to potentiate their effectiveness.