I am so incredibly excited to introduce you to Adelina Coresi, the only Registered Certified Tomatis Practitioner in Western Canada!
Why am I excited? Because the Tomatis Method of Sound Therapy is one of the BEST treatments for people with conditions like:
- Attention difficulties (ADHD, ADD)
- Learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia)
- Emotional disorders (anxiety, energy levels, low self-esteem, stress)
- Sensory Integration and Developmental Disorders (PDD, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, etc.)
- Communication and Social Integration (language development and communication challenges)
- Language acquisition
- Personal and behavioural growth
- Enhanced abilities and maximized potential
I have had so many people ask me about Sound Therapy treatments for most of the above list and until now, recommended they travel to the Tomatis centres in Toronto or Montreal.
We now have a Tomatis Practitioner in Calgary. And I am so excited to introduce you to her. And her credentials are Stellar!
Adelina Coresi holds a Master of Arts in Music Therapy and a degree in Psychology-Pedagogy from the University of Bucharest. She was also trained in Classical Psychodrama by the Psychodrama Association of Milan, Italy. Adelina trained in Paris with The Tomatis Development Corporation and completed her training for the cutting-edge portable Tomatis device, Solisten, in New York City in 2011.
I have asked her to write an article for the Sound Wellness newsletter about Tomatis’ discoveries on the difference between hearing and listening. And how this led to many of his discoveries on human development.
You can find out more about Adelina and the Tomatis Method at www.tomatiscalgary.ca
Hearing, Listening and Human Development:
Discoveries made by Sound Therapy Pioneer, Dr. Alfred Tomatis
The Tomatis Method was created and perfected by Alfred Tomatis (Jan.1st,1920-Dec.25 2001), a French doctor, internationally known otolaryngologist and inventor. He devoted a significant part of his professional life to studying the relationship between the ear and the voice and, by extension, between listening and communication.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis is considered the founder of all the sound based programs available today.
The Tomatis Method has a long history in Europe, with a Tomatis Center in many major cities there. Today, there are over 450 Tomatis Centers worldwide.
Tomatis Method is a drug-free unique listening sound stimulation intervention with a tailored program for each individual.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis extensively studied for more than 50 years the listening function and its relevance to emotional, cognitive, social and motor learning in children and adults, creating the most comprehensive understanding today of how good or poor listening affects our lives. Dr. Tomatis distinctly defined for the first time listening from hearing.
Listening, is an active, voluntary and complex process that we consciously choose to do and requires concentration so that our brain finds meaning in words and sentences. Hearing is the ear’s perceiving sound function that just simply happens. Therefore, someone can hear well but listen poorly.
Opposite to simply hearing, through listening we can decide which information we want to take in and which we need to filter out in the context of every situation.
He discovered that our listening abilities affect our psychological development and our expression and communication capabilities. He recognized the strong impact of neuro-psychological aspects of good and poor listening skills for learning and personality development, and stressed that internal motivational aspects are equally important when learning to listen efficiently. He also emphasized the interactive relationship between a well-developed vertical posture and good listening and communication skills.
Listening and movement coordination develop well before we are born. During the first half of pregnancy the fetus begins to experience and learn, listening to the mother’s voice and through their movement together.
Dr. Alfred Tomatis has shown that, while in the womb, we incorporate and respond to the rhythm and melody of our mother’s voice. He demonstrated that this sound interaction influences our language skills, behavior, and movement development throughout our lives.
During infancy and early childhood, intensive listening and movement learning processes occur. Often these developmental processes are disrupted by factors such as ear infections, emotional difficulties (adoption distress, etc.), sensory-motor deprivation or overload, pre-, peri- and post-natal factors, and so on. In these cases the ear and movement control cannot reach their full life-potential.
One of the leading causes of learning and developmental disorders (Dyslexia, ADD, PDD, Autism) is the reduced ability to neuro-cognitively process sound and listen well. Even during adolescence and adulthood, these fundamental capabilities can be enhanced and refined further. Our listening and movement skills profoundly influence the quality of our personal and professional lives.
Dr. Tomatis developed a series of techniques and technologies to educate and strengthen our listening abilities.
Tomatis auditory training works the middle ear’s muscles by using a machine named Electronic Ear, which helps these tiny muscles to work properly. This is done by playing music, mainly Mozart and Gregorian Chants, which, when played through the Electronic Ear (and a sophisticated filtering algorithm) will causes the muscles to stretch to reach the higher frequencies and to relax during low frequencies. These muscles are therefore getting a “work-out”. This retraining educates the ear to function properly on specific sounds and to push into the background other external sounds. The key to good listening is to be able to do both well, to tune in and filter out information.
The Tomatis Method works also on the emotional level. Emotional issues can prevent people from proper listening. They can become stuck emotionally at a younger age at which they suffered the original trauma preventing normal growth and good listening. The Tomatis program will not necessarily take away all these traumas but will provide individuals with the motivation to put all behind them so they are able to take control of their lives.