Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are EnListen Programs used for?

EnListen Programs provide a wide range of benefits for children and adults of all ages. Some of the many benefits include:

  • Improved speech and language skills
  • Improved motor skills
  • Improved social and business communication skills
  • Improved learning and academic skills
  • Better concentration and organization of information
  • Improved relationships and self-esteem
  • Increased stamina
  • Increased relaxation
  • Improved public speaking
  • Improved singing and musical performance
  • Retrained listening pathways following accident, injury or illness
  • Accelerated learning of reading
  • Accelerated learning of a second language by training the ear to the specific sounds and rhythm of that language and distinguishing sounds so that accent reduction can occur

Clients should expect to see improvements in the areas of work, athletics, health, performing arts, science, math, education, relationships, well being and personal growth. The wide range of benefits stems from the ear’s vast influence and extensive involvement at every level of the nervous system.See the Physiology article in Resources for more information.

Click here to watch a short video about Enlisten.

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2. How does EnListen Training work?

EnListen Training begins with an assessment of a person’s listening strengths and weaknesses by a Licensed EnListen Professional. During the assessment information is provided about the client on a confidential questionnaire, and may also be gathered from consultations, test results and professional reports. The professional then reviews the results with the client (and family if it is a child) and considers information from the assessment about a person’s abilities, history, and goals for doing the program. Using this information, the Professional develops an individualized EnListen program which delivers highly tailored and customized sounds, played through specialized headphones with bone and air conduction. These sounds energize targeted areas of the brain by stimulating growth and activation of unused and underutilized neural pathways.

EnListen sound listening training programs can address concerns such as the following:

  • “I am not passing my reading class”
  • “My child does not talk”  
  • “I want my child to have a high enough score on the state tests to get a college scholarship”
  • “I want to improve my golf game”
  • “I want to be in the All State Chorus this year”
  • “My child does not have friends”
  • “I have lots of diagnoses for my child, including developmental language delays, Autism, Pervasive Development Disorder, Attention Deficit, and psychological dysfunction, and I need a solution so my child can succeed now and in life.”

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3. Are EnListen Programs safe?

Yes. We use information from the Assessment process, use constant monitoring of the client’s progress while in the program, and can easily change a program if needed, even with home programs. Our individualization process allows us to fine tune what is needed for each person so that our high rate of success is achieved and the programs are safe as well as powerful.  

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4. What do you hear coming out of the Headphone?

You will hear filtered and modified Classical Music, Literature, Gregorian chant, and other licensed sounds that train the ear and brain to listen more broadly, process more quickly, and distinguish differences more easily. These are generally derived from music licensed from APM Music or others. These files are filtered to include the required frequencies for the desired auditory training effect and are delivered with delays between sounds delivered via air and bone conduction to aide in training processing time.

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5. Who provides EnListen Programs, and where can I find a provider?

EnListen Sound Listening Training programs are delivered by our expanding network of Licensed EnListen Professionals. They are degreed Professionals with a BA/BS or equivalent degree or higher who use EnListen Programs as a valued tool in their practice. Licensed EnListen Professionals include but are not limited to:

ABA therapists
Audiologists
Body Mind Therapists
Chiropractors
Coaches
College test prep center instructors
College & University staff
Corporate Trainers
Counselors
Educators
Exercise Physiologists
Homeopathic doctors
Marriage and Family Therapists
Mental Health Counselors
Music Teachers
Music Therapists  
Registered Nurses with BA degrees
Naturopathic Doctors 
Nurse Practitioner (NP’s)
Nutritionists
Occupational Therapists
Pastoral Counselors
Pediatricians

Personal Coaches
Personal Trainers
Physical Therapists
Physicians, MD’s
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
Physician Assistants (PA’s)
Private educational centers
Private schools
Psychiatric Nurses
Psychiatrists
Psychologists
Psychotherapists
Psychologists, Clinical
Psychologists, Child
Psychologists, Neuropsychologists
School Psychologists
Social Workers
Special Education Professionals
Speech/Language Therapists and Pathologists
Sports Therapists
Teachers
Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists

 

If you are unable to find a licensed professional in your area, contact us, for more information.

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6. What conditions does EnListen Training help?

EnListen sound listening training works with abilities rather than conditions. While many Licensed EnListen Professionals have clinical licenses, they do not use EnListen Programs to treat a person. Instead, they evaluate listening strengths and weaknesses and develop individualized EnListen Programs to improve listening.

EnListen Professionals do take into consideration the conditions people have when determining an effective program, including those with Developmental Delays, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Development Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, Tourrettes, loss of function from an injury or stroke, attention problems, reading problems, motor control function, potty training issues (not able to listen to their bodies), and others.  

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7. What abilities do EnListen Programs improve?

We are fortunate in having enough experience working with EnListen with a wide range of clients with different competencies in linguistic, kinesthetic, spatial, musical, thinking, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities to know that we can usually achieve gains in one or more areas. The distinctions between achieving gains that are adequate, good, or extraordinary have to do with several factors. These are asked about in the Assessment process.

The best gains require improving listening through the EnListen training, AND changing beliefs about what is possible (see Testimonials for some examples), following recommendations for support activities during and following each intensive, and asking for diet and exercise needs to be evaluated to see if the body chemistry is adequate. All of these will contribute to success. Some families are surprised to learn that each family member can increase in at least one ability by at least one competency level. Some immediate subtle changes can transform into much larger gains over time with consistent support.

Educational in design and definition, EnListen is for people who just want to be their best. Executives, professionals, athletes, musicians, dancers, teacher, parents and more have all benefitted from our training.

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8. How does EnListen Training address such a wide range of concerns?

A review of recent and significant educational, medical, physiological, sociological, and paramedical research and literature about learning disabilities, reading problems, attention deficit, speech/language problems, motor control, music, and foreign language problems points toward poor listening as a source. The wide range of benefits provided by EnListen stems from the ear’s vast influence and extensive involvement at every level of the nervous system. (See Articles).

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9. What is the success rate of EnListen Training?

Our success rate is approximately 90%: 30% adequate results, 30% good results (better than expected), and 30% extraordinary results (breakthrough gains not possible before EnListen). If we monitor daily results and make any adjustments that might be needed to these individualized programs, the client can usually achieve their goal or some portion of it. In some cases, secondary and desirable goals, not part of the original focus might be achieved. See Testimonials for some examples of this.

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10. How long does EnListen Training take?

The typical minimum length for an EnListen Program is between 60 to 90 hours. People with long-standing and elusive unmet goals can usually achieve breakthrough gains from a longer program, from 6 to 12 months in length. Much depends on the competency desired and starting ability. We have found that by individualizing each intensive, we can gradually move processing times and broaden reception and distinction of sounds so that typical, proficient, and optimum abilities are possible.

Each listening session will typically be two hours in length for the first two intensives, with subsequent sessions lasting from one to two and a half hours. After each 30 hours of training, a one month break allows the ear and brain to integrate the changes. The optimum training schedule can vary from client to client and will be determined by the EnListen Professional.

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11. What do you do while you listen for two hours at a time?

A 30 ft cord allows you to freely move around while you listen. You do not sit at the computer to do the program. The computer just delivers the program, automatically changing from one track to the next each day until you are done, then it stops. You can sit, write a letter, do homework, talk, sing, draw, paint, do crafts, puzzles, play cards or a game, put together legos, or sleep. At least in the first part of the program we prefer you not read so that the ear becomes the focus of your attention.  It is recommended you not play video games, work on the computer, listen to anything or write email.

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12. WHAT EVIDENCE SHOWS ENLISTEN PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE?

Most of the evidence comes from individual clients served by Licensed EnListen Professionals in the form of individual client breakthroughs, such as those described  in the Testimonials. Each testimonial was chosen because it represents a type of evidence found throughout our client base. Increases in competency accompany the improved score test or assessment that was done that indicates some type of :

  • Children whose brain performance  on EEG and qEEG post tests following educational EnListen training  present with normalization of brain wave patterns when compared with pre tests.
  • Children on the autistic spectrum who advance into normal classes and frequently develop extraordinary skills in art and spatial design, science, music, and even language.  
  • Adults who are able to make the breakthroughs into new professions, improved relationships, higher performance levels in language, music, and sports.
  • Children and adults who are able to relax and have greater sense of well being, leading to improved performance in school, peer, and home environments.
  • Teens whose behavior improves as a result of getting information into their awareness in an organized and not distorted way.

Results reported from the first school program in AZ show student advancement in standardized test scores and in grade advances where these had not been achieved before EnListen.  An elementary school in Alabama is doing a double blind pilot this year, and more schools have indicated interest  in using EnListen to increase reading and math performance for ESL and poorly performing students whose profiles indicate poor listening.

We are actively seeking research funding and developing a way to report results for individuals within some type of meta-analysis and/or grounded theory approach.

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13. What kind of sound files does EnListen use?

EnListen uses high bit rate mp3 files to store and play back digital sound files. While it is true that full uncompressed audio produces higher sound quality than mp3, this is only relevant when the intention is musical enjoyment. The digital files used by EnListen are intended to produce performance results, distinct from musical enjoyment, and are unquestionably of high enough quality to produce the intended outcomes. (See testimonals for results.) We consider these tracks as sound instead of music. This is very helpful to listeners who are musicians, since they expect music to sound like music.

Since the files are highly modified and filtered, our results over the past four years demonstrate the uncompressed audio is unnecessary.

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14. Can you listen for one hour at a time? Why do you recommend two hours a day in many programs?

You can listen for one hour at a time, either once or twice a day if the program is written that way. For an accelerated change, listen two hours per day. You and the Licensed EnListen Professional determine the optimum length of daily sessions to get the best results and accommodate your schedule.

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15. How much does EnListen Training cost?

Each professional sets his or her fees based on typical costs in the area. No set price exists for this program, and it may vary by whether you do a home program or an in-center program.

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16. How is the program delivered? Is home-training possible with EnListen Training? Can it be done in schools?

Our professionally administered training programs are delivered via computer using the proprietary EnListen Program Player. Listening can be done in a private practice setting, home, work, school, business, or other site administered by a Licensed EnListen Professional.

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17. How do you keep the headphones on a two or three year old child?

Licensed EnListen Professionals are trained to work with young children. The main rule is to be willing to do what you need to keep the headphones on for the first listening period. Many one to five year olds present no problem. They just need a look from their parent and the professional that this is a “Hands down, headphones on” situation. Our professionals are trained to address problems of this type.

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18. What is the ideal age to do EnListen training?

We work with children as young as one year through adults in their eighties. The best answer is for children to do the training as young as possible because their brains are developing most rapidly in the first seven years. Early changes in processing have far reaching effects on language, learning, and movement. The next best answer is to begin EnListen at any age to improve a skill, or to do something new, to make a breakthrough in something like learning a foreign language, learning to paint, or to sing. The brain is always changing, yet at different rates throughout our lives.

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19. What happens when several people in a family do EnListen training?

Not only does each person make gains, the communication, relationships, and social interactions change, becoming more playful, supportive and responsible for actions and contributions to the home and care of others. Television and computer time is no longer the most prevalent activity. You will see an increase in conversation, real listening, shared activities such as cooking, playing games inside and outside, reading aloud, doing family days once a month, and talking at the dinner table.

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20. Where can I find more information on EnListen Training?

New articles and books will be written over the next year about EnListen. For an overview of Sound Listening Training from published articles by Dr. Billie Thompson, see the Articles page in our Resources section for background information about the field. Also, visit our Technology section for an in-depth view of EnListen.

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