I could honestly recommend the Listening Therapy to anyone. I first heard about Listening Therapy from my cranial osteopath. I had been in a terrorist bombing 15 years earlier, damaging my spine and suffering post traumatic stress syndrome as a result. While I had come a long way in straightening my spine and over coming PTS, I still had to have regular treatment to maintain a steady level of health. My osteopath considered the Tomatis "Listening Therapy" to be the answer to take me over the last hurdle.

The fact that it is recommended for any musician was an added bonus as I work professionally as a percussionist and front my own band as a singer.

I first went for a hearing test. This in itself was revealing as I found I could not tell which were higher or lower notes in my right ear. ( that explains why I always had trouble with harmonies). My bone conduction was also funny, confused. Ella sat down and showed me the test which told me a lot about my emotional barriers and childhood traumas. This was very revealing and confirmed what I had been told by other sources. All something I was surprised to have revealed by the test.

I very much enjoyed spending 2 hours a day listening to Mozart and Gregorian chant, humming and having my singing lessons. While I listened I drew a lot of pictures. These changed over the weeks, from very precise flat objects to three dimensional objects, then three dimensional objects in space and finally all that combined but very free and experimental drawings. I found that this was also reflected in my singing. I now reach for notes as I think of them, feeling freer, more relaxed in my singing, as if there is more "space". My work as a percussionist is much more locked into the rhythm. My left hand is less "slow", and is far more experimental.

Not only that but I find myself listening to music more. (I had stopped with post traumatic stress and depression.) This spatial awareness has effected my eyes quite a lot. I see the landscape around me with completely different eyes now. I see the space between objects, the perspective, colours and texture of things. I would definitely recommend this to any visual artists.

Emotionally I am surprised at the things that have changed. Over the weeks I could see, quite clearly the trauma I had at 8 years old (which was visible on my original test) and how that had effected all of my later life. Though of no great importance the verbal attack I had received left me unable to trust ANY human being. This had hindered my relationship with my parents, lovers, and work colleges. These have all greatly improved since the course. In fact I am more optimistic about life in general than I have been in years. You could say I feel ready to take on my life with all its challenges.

On my recent check up with my cranial osteopath (I was inquisitive to see how things had improved) he said my pituitary gland was finally central in my skull and my circulation was working properly for the first time and my posture has improved. He was very pleased with the results.

Sandira July 2002

 

The methods used by the Listeneing Centre (London), known as Listening Therapy, are based on the published works of Alfred A.Tomatis and use only the original analogue form of sound.