The Tomatis Method

The Tomatis Method® is named after its inventor, Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis, psychologist, physician and ENT specialist, who spent over fifty years redefining the ear’s extraordinary significance to human development.

The Method was developed through extensive clinical research that focused on the vast array of psychological and social factors that bear on listening, including the family system and emotional background.

In the course of his research Dr. Tomatis substantiated that the faculty of listening is closely related to the capacity for learning and the ability to communicate.

Listening, which serves auditory comprehension, as viewing serves visual comprehension, is defined as using the ear consciously for the purpose of communication.

With this in mind, it is important to remember that the faculties of hearing and listening should not be confused. For instance, the analytic capacity of the ear may be distorted – thus making it inoperable at the listening level – while auditory accuracy is fully maintained. The listening function of the ear is an active process while the hearing function is a more passive process.

Therefore, it is misleading to assimilate auditory comprehension with the simple perception of sounds. In fact, the ear assumes three principal functions:

• The Energising Function
  The human ear can be compared to a dynamo which provides the brain with energy and thus requires stimulation.
  
• The Vestibule Function
  The human ear plays an important role in posture and balance control and influences a large part of the muscular system of the body.
  
• The Auditory Function
  The perception of sounds.

If the performance of one or more of the above functions is not optimal we observe closely interlinked dysfunctions.

Dr. Tomatis believed that most of the problems related to listening originate from early experiences and that from conception forward we shut out those frequencies that correspond to disturbing/traumatic occurrences e.g. difficulties during pregnancy/birth, parental and/or social prohibitions, fear, anxiety etc.

In order to optimise the functional listening capacities and/or to remedy certain dysfunctions of the ear, Dr. Tomatis developed a listening training device called the ‘electronic ear’ which makes it possible to re-educate the human ear with regard to its listening function.

The Tomatis Method® is used to enhance the listening process for adults, teenagers or children who have problems related to: communication, socialisation, psychological (relationships, anxiety/depression, stress), overwork, exhaustion, self confidence, memory, concentration, motivation, energy, creativity.