Sound Therapy: Bringing the Body into Harmony

By Dorinne S. Davis

Webster’s Dictionary says that sound is ‘the sensation produced in the organs of hearing when the surrounding air vibrates’.  However, a more recent definition is that sound is vibrational energy.  Vibration produces frequency and frequency is synonymous with sound.  Wheeler in Smithsonian Magazine in 2004 reported that all cells of our body produce a frequency.  Therefore, our bodies emit many frequencies, creating our own body’s unique symphony of sounds.  This symphony sounds best (and the body functions best) when the frequencies are ‘in tune’.

 “Each celestial body, in fact each and every atom, produces a particular sound on account of its movement, its rhythm or vibration.  All these sounds and vibrations form a universal harmony in which each element, while having its own function and character, contributes to the whole.”   Pythagoras 550 BC    

The best way to determine which frequencies or sounds are ‘out of tune’ is by testing the connection between the voice, the ear, and the brain. (A series of 5 laws indicating that the voice produces what the ear hears and the ear emits the same stressed frequencies as the voice—“The Tomatis Effect” and “The Davis Addendum to the Tomatis Effect”[i]) This is accomplished with diagnostic testing that evaluates one’s sense of hearing, sound processing skills, auditory processing skills, and stressed vocal frequencies.  By finding out where and how the voice, ear, and brain do not maximally support each other, a program of sound-based therapy(ies) is introduced.

Sound-based therapies have been defined as introducing sound vibration to the body using special equipment, programs, modified tones/beats, the need for which is identified with appropriate testing.[ii]  There are many different sound-based therapies and when starting a program, the correct order of the application of the therapies will provide maximum change.

Some of the sound-based therapies that are available are

Auditory Integration Training: a listening program developed by Dr. Guy Berard, Annecy, France, that repatterns how a muscle in the middle ear sends sound vibration to the inner ear.  This method is especially helpful for people with one type of hearing hypersensitivity.  Once the hypersensitivity has been eliminated, the person is more comfortable with sound input, processes sound more clearly, and can perceive the subtleties of the rhythms, pitches, and inflections of external sound, especially language.

The Tomatis® Method: a listening program developed by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French ENT that retrains how the ear and the body receive, process, and utilize sound stimulation for all aspects of learning and development.  It has applicability for people of all ages.

BioAcoustics™: a listening program developed by Sharry Edwards, Albany, OH, that uses low frequency sound stimulation based upon the body’s mathematical matrix of predictable frequency relationships.  This program can be used for many wellness challenges.

Sound-based therapies have broad applicability.

Case 1:

A non-verbal three year old child with autism had severe hypersensitivity to sound and found no comfort in his external world.  He reverted to his internal self, banging his head on the floor whenever sound disturbed him.  After following the sound therapy protocol, in a matter of months, he became less sensitive to sound stimuli, tuned into the world and began socializing, developed language skills at a very fast pace, and by the time he was in first grade, only needed an aide to help him through his day.

Case 2:

A 16 year old dyslexic young man, who after doing a listening program announced that he sat down one night and read a book cover to cover for the first time, because all the words made sense from page one.

Case 3:

A 70 year old man with spinal stenosis who walked into the office with a cane, and left only needing it for minimal support.  Over time, he regained more balance control and said he felt like he was reborn.

Case 4:

A mother in her 40’s suffering from depression, who after doing a listening protocol, said it was nice to feel happy again.

The therapy application process utilizes The Tree of Sound Enhancement Therapy®[iii].  This tree analogy reflects the ‘sense of hearing’ in the Roots of the tree, general sound processing skills in the Trunk of the tree, specific auditory processing skills in the Leaves and Branches of the tree, and body maintenance and support in the Head surrounding the tree.  By encompassing all pieces, a “Total Person Approach” to harmonizing the body is accomplished.

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Sound therapy helps the body regain its own natural form and function but ‘retuning’ how the body receives and emits our natural frequencies.  It is not the diagnosis of the person that is helped.  The ‘retuning’ occurs when the laws of the Voice-Ear-Brain Connection are applied.  Joshua Leeds, in his book “The Power of Sound” says, “Sound is an ally; it always has been.  The question is whether we are ready to embrace it as such.”[iv]  When looking for a natural approach to learning, development, or wellness, one should consider a sound-based therapy.

Interested in learning more about sound therapy?

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Dorinne S. Davis, MA, CCC-A, FAAA, RCTC, BARA, President/Founder of The Davis Center in Mt. Arlington, NJ, is the author of 4 books, including Sound Bodies through Sound Therapy® , has demonstrated the scientific principles behind the Voice-Ear-Brain Connection in The Davis Addendum® to The Tomatis Effect, established The Tree of Sound Enhancement Therapy® from which her Diagnostic Evaluation for Therapy Protocol (DETP®) provides the correct administration of any sound-based therapy, is credentialed in 19 different sound-based therapies, and is recognized as the world’s leading sound therapist. www.thedaviscenter.com