The Listening Centre is the first facility in North America to offer listening training programs based on the work of Dr. Tomatis.

Listening may be our most fundamental communication and learning skill, yet it is perhaps the one most commonly neglected. The main reason for this oversight is that a listening problem usually goes undetected, since listening doesn't manifest itself directly. Listening lies behind skills such as attention span, auditory processing, visual tracking, eye contact, reading, posture, verticality and movements involved in talking, dancing, writing or playing a musical instrument. Listening facilitates a good singing voice, the learning of foreign languages, the feeling of being "in-touch", "together", "on top of things", "in-sync", "in control", "grounded", “attuned" or "focused". Listening training is about making listening work.

Listening Training is used as a remedial strategy to reduce a deficit or correct a dysfunction related to listening. It is also effective as an enrichment program to achieve well-being and better quality of life. As a skill enhancement program, it is a powerful tool for people who seek optimal performance in their career or other areas of interest.

Listening Training programs are individually tailored to address specific needs of each person. During the Initial Assessment we determine the person's suitability for listening training and discuss goals and expectations. We then recommend the length of the program required to reach these goals.

The next step is to design a program of sound stimulation. Each program consists of a passive phase and an active phase. The passive phase makes use of filtered sounds, mostly classical music, to “open the ear” to improve receptive listening skills. Children play, draw, or paint while listening through headphones and most adults just relax. During the active phase we address expressive listening, by working on the ear-voice control loop. Children and adults hum, sing, speak or read into a microphone. Their voice is electronically enriched and fed back into their ears.

A typical core program consists of two intensive sessions of 30 hours, 2 hours/day for 15 days, with a month break in between. The Centre’s Consultants provide close monitoring and guidance throughout the program.
As a follow-up to the core program, we monitor progress for at least one year. Home exercises and short listening training "boosts" may also be recommended.

Read more on Listening Training for Children and for Adults.