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Self Help and Your Third Ear

Posted by Living Sounds

This past year has been an eye opener for me. I feel I’m on a fast learning curve towards more self-awareness, which trickles over into how I relate with other people at home and at work as a Hearing Aid Practitioner. I’ve always been interested in self-help, often looking for ways to improve how I handle the normal everyday stresses of life with good nutrition, exercise, creative interests, and a healthy balance between friends, family, and work activities. I’m not always successful and can find myself getting low on energy, tolerance, or motivation at times.

I recognize, however, that this is normal and accept that life cannot always be roses and sunshine. I know tomorrow is a new day, and I can try again. I’ve given up being hard on myself. I accept that I’m not perfect, and I can make mistakes and still be successful. I am human, and if my heart is in the right place and I wish and do goodwill towards others, then I am doing my best to be the best I can, and this is truly enough. Interestingly enough, the more I move towards self-improvement, the more strategies and opportunities keep opening up to me. Having spent a number of years not making headway with old thought patterns, I find I am very open to trying new strategies, especially if there’s a chance for more enjoyment of life and happiness to be had. I like where I’m headed.

My chosen career as a Hearing Aid Practitioner has a lot to do with this desire to improve as a person, as a colleague, and as a helper to the hard of hearing because we work with all kinds of people every day, and they are the sole reason I love my job! The better I feel, the more I can help others by listening to their concerns. The better listener I become, the easier it is to find the best hearing solutions for them, assist them through the adaptation stage, and encourage them to use communication strategies along with their hearing devices for added benefit. I can’t do all the work of course, and the road to better hearing is not paved in gold, but by working closely together with our clients, we can definitely support them to be more successful than if they were doing it alone.

Living Sounds Hearing Centre truly is dedicated to offering these supports to all our clients and their families. It may not be widely known, but we offer a fantastic Aural Rehabilitation workshop called “Your Third Ear” which is FREE to all clients and their communication partners/family members. This “Third Ear” is referring to your beautiful brain, and during the short 2 hour workshop, Cindy Gordon from Bridges Support Services will discuss how to use some great techniques to improve getting more out of conversations, especially in difficult listening environments such as restaurants. Cindy will discuss how your hearing works, how to understand your Audiogram results, the emotional impact of hearing loss on you and your loved ones, the benefits of wearing hearing aids vs. not wearing hearing aids, and available resources in the community. Lastly, as a hearing aid wearer herself for most of her life, Cindy will personally speak about the lighter side of living with hearing loss.

The “Third Ear” class is offered at our various locations once a month and is a very valuable tool you can add to your toolkit on your journey towards improved hearing and enjoying more of the living sounds around you. Call us today to book a seat at the next workshop!

Kim Ryll BC-HIS
Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences
Registered Hearing Aid Practitioner

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