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Eva:
Hi, this is the of Pure Living Family Podcast. I'm Eva, my little brother is Theo, and my mom and dad are Sean and Angela.
Sean:
Hey guys, welcome into today's podcast. I'm very excited about this one, because I feel like our mission is being laid out in front of us. Angela and I have talked a lot over the last few weeks, and we feel like our purpose is being carved out in what we stand for here at Pure Living Family.
Sean:
And today we're interviewing a company that's been really helpful for us and really supportive, and been a big, huge cheerleader for Theo for probably over a year now. And so we have a very good relationship, and I'm excited to really tell their story. So I'd like to introduce you to Mandy Doman, who's the Chief Operating Officer at Advanced Brain Technologies. Hi Mandy, welcome to the podcast.
Mandy Doman:
Hi Sean. It's so, so great to be here, and just to be part of your mission, and supporting your family. And seeing all of the amazing work that you do for Theo, your family, and really to shed light on ways that other people can find alternative, and just different kinds of support for their families. So we're just really pleased to be part of this. Thank you.
Sean:
Well, thank you for joining. So Mandy's the Chief Operating Officer of Advanced Brain Technologies. Which you guys have close to 30 years of experience of working with music therapy. Right? Can you talk a little bit about that and how the company came about?
Mandy Doman:
Yes, absolutely! And one of the things I love so much about this company, is it's really about the people. People behind why we're here, who we're helping, as well as how the program was created in the first place. So my husband is Alex Doman, he's the founder of Advanced Brain Technology. And he's basically a third generation in a field of neuro developmentalists. Which are basically, people who are passionate and educated about helping anyone achieve the next level of performance in their life.
Mandy Doman:
And so in the '90s, Alex joined his father's association, and they discovered really the role of the auditory system in brain development. And during, I guess, even before then, Alex's family started sending clients from their practice. Which was the National Association for Child Development. They were sending people off to Europe for these different sound based auditory interventions.
Mandy Doman:
And Alex became very interested in what that really meant, and how it was making such transformations in the clients that they were working with. They started seeing faster progress, learn more language. There were just so many different areas that they started to observe. And he got really fascinated, so he started getting trained in all of these different methods. And personally, took about 2000 clients through these other methods.
Mandy Doman:
And during that time he just noticed sometimes it was really hard to get the compliance. And it was quite expensive for a lot of the families to do these types of program. And there were just a few other nuances that he felt, well maybe that means we need to create our own. We wanted something that could be very easy for a family to use in the comfort of their home. That was very safe, and that the kids would enjoy, it wouldn't take up hours a day. Which was what some of these other methods required. Parents are busy. We need something that's really easy, effective, and affordable. So that's the basis to why it exists. But the Listening Program is a music listening therapy, and you listen for 15 to 30 minutes per day. And it just does a lot to change the growth and development of a child, or an adult, or even a senior.
Sean:
Yeah. And I was introduced to the Listening Program, I was reading the book Son Rise by Barry Neil Kaufman. And it's a story of how they helped their son with autism to reach his potential. And it's a really powerful story, where actually in the forward his son is writing after graduating from college. And it was moving for me being a father who Theo is now, he's six, he's still non-verbal. He will talk, and he's still in diapers. But we know that his progress is improving greatly.
Sean:
And this gave us a visual and a vision of what was possible with Theo. And when I read about the Listening Program, I was fascinated because I had recently dove into neuroscience, and really learn, started to learn that our brains are malleable, they're adaptable for our whole lifetime. And especially kids that are in those early development stage, their brains are so malleable. You just have to set up the proper environment to make that possible.
Sean:
So, Mandy, I don't know if you recall that first call, because this was my initial initiative as a father to be like, "Okay, my wife is doing everything here. She's researching all the different studies, finding these different protocols." And my call to you is my first initiative of like, "Hey, I want to participate in this program. I read about it, it sounds amazing. Can we talk?" Do you remember that call?
Mandy Doman:
I remember it so well, and I was definitely struck by just your willingness to learn. I mean, even though you may say that it felt like Angela was doing the most of it. I definitely got the sense that just in speaking with you, that it was so much of a team effort in the care for your son. So that was what I recall. And in those early days I hadn't really spoken to anyone, or really understood The PANS, and PANDAS, and autoimmune disorders. We just hadn't had a lot of experience, personally. A lot of our practitioners that use the Listening Program in their practice certainly had.
Mandy Doman:
So for me, I was really excited about this opportunity to number one say, "Okay, well, knowing that there's an opportunity to help in so many ways. So the pain relief, the inflammatory, the stress." Everything that you were describing. I just felt so inspired that this could be something that would be so valuable for him. So, yeah, that was one of, I think just a really nice kind of that segue to even leading into a friendship with you guys, and seeing your journey, and really trying to support you in any way we can.
Sean:
Well, it was really mind opening to me when we had that conversation, because you read all these different protocols, and you read about what everyone else is doing. And I had gotten to the point where we had tried so many different things just because somebody else had tried it. And that's a challenge as a special needs parent, is really sitting with all the different options that are presented with you, and then coming to a conclusion, an educated conclusion of, hey, this is the path for my child, because this, I feel in my heart is their purpose. And I feel like that's one thing Angie and I have done, since really our first interaction with you. Is we get suggestions all the time of maybe try this, try this supplement, try that. And it finally comes to the point where you tap into your intuition, and really find that answer, that solution from your higher power.
Sean:
And I think you guys especially, are guided from that as leaders. And that's why I love you guys as a business, because meeting you and Alex. I know you guys wake up early morning and meditate, and journal, and you're doing the personal work so that you can provide for others. But just to speak to what you guys offer. So the Listening Program, what it does, it's using music therapy to approach your specific needs. So you mentioned pain for Theo. Right? So with PANDAS flares, there's a lot of inflammation. And when he's in a PANDA flare, his mind, his brain is overtaken by these cytokines. These stress signals that are coming from his cells throughout his body. And so anything we could do to calm the system, we tried.
Sean:
And Advanced Brain Technologies definitely helped in a lot of those scenarios. A lot of times we would even jump in the car and turn on the music therapy, and it would calm him down. And his therapist actually became a huge fan of the music therapy, because I couldn't be there all the time, Angie couldn't be there all the time. So we introduced to the therapist and she was empowered to use it as part of her therapy that she gave to Theo every day.
Sean:
And the music definitely helped to do that, and to understand the neuroscience. So you have the limbic system, which is your emotional brain. And then you have the prefrontal cortex, which is the logical processing. But when you're in pain, you're in the emotional brain. So if you're able to help the amygdala to, the fight or flight to calm, then you can start going to the processing and getting into the problem solving, I guess. Is that a fair way to describe it?
Mandy Doman:
Oh yes, absolutely! And it's becoming even more clear to me as we're doing that work, we are working really closely with a practice in Ohio, and the medical doctor, Dr. Allen Lewis. He specializes in functional, and integrative medicine, as well as traditional medicine. But he specializes in helping PANS, PANDAS, Lyme disease, all sorts of autoimmune disorders, developmental delays. And as he's been really studying what the effects are, it's pretty profound in the fact that number one, it's helping to calm the system.
Mandy Doman:
He's really starting to study something called the cell danger response. And you spoke to that a little bit, but one of the things that we do with the music, is we're incorporating bone conduction technology in the headphone experience. So what that does is it sends a very gentle vibratory sensation all the way through your body, your skeletal system resonates and vibrates in response to the music, through the bone conduction transducer, along with air conduction sound. Which is the sound you hear through the ear cuffs.
Mandy Doman:
So we're basically utilizing the two ways that our brain perceives sound, in order to provide the very most complete way of stimulating the auditory system, sending those signals up to the brain, helping to those ignite different areas that are going to be responsive to stress, and helping us to be more resilient, helping to process information in a more meaningful way. So that all of the information coming to us isn't bombarding us, but rather our brains learn how to dissect it. And can even put rational thought to whatever is going on in the environment.
Mandy Doman:
So a friend of mine was saying that her child with autism gets really overwhelmed by babies crying. And obviously, it's not the baby that's fearful, but it's the sound that the baby's making. So if we're constantly in a state of protecting our selves from found or other sensory information, we do get into that state of fight or flight. So that's one of the things that Dr. Lewis has found in his practice, is that it's just really helping to calm and regulate the nervous system. And then patients can be more responsive to other medical treatments. A lot of times, especially with PANS and PANDAS, and other types of needs like these. There's not a lot that you can do biomedically, because their systems can be so fragile. And so he also likes that the Listening Program is so complimentary, and it's safe, and it's very gentle.
Sean:
And Dr. Lewis is that Sancta Familia Center for Integrative Medicine. Is that his practice?
Mandy Doman:
Yes. Yes, [crosstalk 00:14:03] that's Dr. Lewis.
Sean:
I'll link that in the podcast notes, so folks can easily find him. Because that's one thing we've learned and seen as well, where Theo will have sensory overload. If there's too much, for a while, when we'd go to my mom's house and there was a bunch of kids around, sometimes it would be too much. Where he would have meltdowns because there's too much noise. There's too much chaos going on. And that's one thing I've read a lot with the autism diagnosis, is they have a sensory overload quite often.
Sean:
And anything from, for Theo's examples of wearing shoes and socks can be overwhelming for him. When he's in flares, just that feeling on his feet, the compression. Whatever it is, whenever we take off his shoes, that can be a calming action for him. But the cool part of the Listening Program that really is so intriguing to me, is you're manipulating your biology with the music. And you had mentioned the bone conduction headphones, because I did mention listening to the music therapy in a car.
Sean:
So I think there's levels here, and maybe you can speak to that where, when we would take him in a car ride, because that's all we could do to calm him down. And we turn on the music, sometimes that's all we could get, and he wouldn't wear the headphones. But if anytime we could get him to do the headphones, we definitely try, we did, because it's almost like an another step up of you're manipulating just a little bit more of your biology, because you're actually vibrating bones when you use the bone conduction. Is that correct?
Mandy Doman:
Yeah. And in fact I have them here. So maybe it would just be helpful if I show what we're talking about. So this is the bone conduction headphone, and then so we call the system Waves. And so basically you have a bone conduction transducer, this controls the volume. You can control the volume of the air conduction sound, which is through the ear cuffs, and then as well as how much vibration you're getting here.
Mandy Doman:
But what's so fascinating, and I love watching when people experience using these for the very first time. Because what we like to do, is turn the volume all the way off on the air conduction so there's no sound coming in. So all they're experiencing is the music through this bone conductor. You literally hear sound through your body. So the bone conduction is most resonant to low frequency sounds. So if you think about a base guitar, those frequencies are very large, and they do actually have the ability to stimulate the vestibular system as well.
Mandy Doman:
So we work really closely with occupational therapists, and a lot of them even they guide how we create these programs. So one of the techniques that they use, is to help stimulate that the vestibular system. They'll put their kid or their client in a chair, and then they'll turn it three ways to the right, and then three ways to the left. And so what we were able to do through our technologies. So we call them neuroacoustic modifications.
Mandy Doman:
So we take music that has been recorded with our chamber ensemble. So all of the music it's ours, and then we can apply different ways of changing and modifying the music, to accomplish different outcomes that we're intending for. So in those low frequencies with the bone conduction, we're literally taking the music and moving it around you, so you feel the music move around your head. And what that does is it really creates another level of safety and comfort, as you're becoming attuned to where you are in space.
Mandy Doman:
So a lot of people get really hypervigilant, and they have to be able to see the door at all times just because they don't like anything behind them. Or if a child isn't gravitationally secure, they may have a difficulty riding a bike, or climbing up and down stairs. So there's all of these kind of areas that we can help to stimulate within our sense of safety and comfort within our own bodies. But then also to help create that healthy relationship with other people in our environment, just by being aware, locationally of where we're at.
Mandy Doman:
And then one other example of that I think is super important, especially for a learning environment, is the child in a classroom. If they need to be able to listen to their teacher in the front of the room speaking, and there's all these other sounds going on around them. By having that awareness of sound moving and being able to train your brain to attune to what you need to hear, and filter out what you don't. It actually helps that sense of safety and comfort in a learning environment as well.
Sean:
And we definitely have noticed the filtering capabilities, where Theo started listening to directions better when we used the Listening Program routinely, habitually. And one thing that is our focus moving forward with this podcast, is our mantra is; it's time to abandon the structures that have abandoned us, and follow us as we find companies and brands that truly care for you. And you are the first company that we identified as that brand that truly cares for who they serve.
Sean:
And I'm actually reading the GOOD TO GREAT by Jim Collins right now. Fantastic book! And one of the stories in there is about Hewlett Packard. And I didn't realize that until this week I read it is, that was their focus. Even with their shareholders, when people were trying to come down on them to drive revenue, how do we drive revenue? They remained as their sole focus, how can we best serve the clients that we serve?
Sean:
And I think that's so great in two parts. Right? Because me as a parent, I've learned if I don't take care of myself, I'm on empty and I reach burnout super quickly. So I feel like music therapy has been beneficial for me, where I'm recharging myself. And that way I have energy to confront the challenges that I face personally, but then also then give to Theo. And I think that same idea, which on our website at purelivingfamily.com is we give you permission to take better care of those who you care... or better care of yourself, so you can take better care of those who you care for. And I think it translate to the business world. If you aren't taking better care of yourself, you're not going to be able to serve. And I don't know if you can speak to that from your experience.
Mandy Doman:
Oh, absolutely! And we encourage our team to use the programs as well. For me, when I first started using the Listening Program, I actually had a really hard time with my speech. I would stumble over my words. I would get really anxious speaking to anyone new, I have a hearing loss. So just the fact that I'm here in this company that has made such a tremendous impact on my own life performance, on being a mom, being a leader and, serving people internationally now for the last 20, well for me, 21 years. I know for a fact that if it hadn't been for the Listening Program, I wouldn't be able to serve in the way that I am. It really does elevate my level of thinking. It helps me to process and assimilate information so much more quickly.
Mandy Doman:
Obviously, my speech isn't impacted the way that it was before. So that's been a really big game changer for me. And so of course, using it with my own family too, has been just tremendous. So I know what it's like, we're busy, and trying to get those headphones on 15 minutes every day, it can be a bit of a challenge. And we just do our best. But yeah, I mean, the thing is, when we feel like we're doing what we can to take care of ourselves, we do have more to give to other people. And I just love the fact that music is just a natural way to support our brains. And it feels really good to listen to it as well. And I haven't grown tired of it after 21 years. I still listen every single day. So for me, it's just a lifestyle.
Sean:
I guess that's a question I have for you, because some of our challenges that we have with both Theo and myself. Is I found that if I set a time, it's a fixed time every day, that this is when I listen to my music therapy. That's where I have the most success in following it for long periods of time. Has that been the same for you as far as 21 years of practice? What's the best practice to make sure that you stick to the protocol?
Mandy Doman:
I think for our family, it's always been definitely finding a consistent time of day, and then also bringing the kids into the experience of it. So making sure I have fun activities that I know they're going to enjoy. Occasionally, we'll pop over to Michael's, or jump online and let him... our son, Brendan, who's 11 now. But occasionally, he'll just find a new activity that he'll want to work on while he's doing the Listening Program. One of our favorites is adult coloring books. I love Joanna Vasper, she's absolutely my favorite coloring book artist. We just have a really nice set of colored pencils. And that's been a really fun go-to. And sometimes Brendan and I will just both sit, because we have two systems. We'll both listen at the same and color together.
Mandy Doman:
And it's just as a nice time when you can curve that time. So the consistency, finding the right activities that's really the currency of your child. And also doing it at a time where you don't feel rushed or pressured, because it's really important. And you probably know this too. Like if Theo is in a mood, and he's maybe a bit calmer as well as you. The brain is going to be in a more relaxed and I guess engaged state. So we really want that active, engaged, listening experience. The last thing we would want is mom or dad to force the headphones. Oh, it's just one more thing we have to do.
Mandy Doman:
And even thinking of the space, like where you have it set up in your home, is it clean, relaxing, inviting? Do you feel at peace? That's how we've set it up, so it becomes just a moment to check out of all the craziness, and just feel like you're caring for yourself and your brain. And that's what I think of when I'm doing the Listening Program with Brendan, and it's something that's really good for him. And then after he's done listening, he's calmer, he listens better. Things that he used to upset him, don't really upset him at all. So even though it's like, yes, 15 minutes or whatever a day actually makes so much of your day even easier, and gives you more of the best of him. And that's what I have found as a mom.
Sean:
That's awesome! And I think two things; one, no screen time at the same time. Right? Because you don't want to take away from the impact that it's happening with the music therapy. So just to clarify that. I do did get certified, I need to get more practice in to help be a representative to folks. But the other thing is you mentioned for Brendan, he's calmer. And that's one thing I've noticed being a dad, being stressed out about finances, paying the bills, providing everything that I need to for my family. I'm over reactive. I'm very emotional. And so when I have done music therapy, it almost creates more space from the actual input to the reaction. It allows me to process information better, when I am doing... it's meditation. It really is what it is. So just a thought there.
Sean:
But the reason I wanted you guys on the podcast, is because the way that I see medicine and wellness moving forward, is the personalization of it. Right? I work in the tech world, and a lot of my contacts are doing exactly that. And one quick story is Walgreens, they were the first one to create a network that was nationwide where you can actually do a drive through to pick up your medications and that's how they expanded. Right?
Sean:
But now with everything we're experiencing, where everyone has been remote in their own homes and isolated, a lot of times. It's called for more personalization, more care from people that are providing services to you. And Advanced Brain Technologies does that better than any other company I've ever interacted with. Because you actually have color codes that dictate how the music is manipulated to address what you're trying to improve on and optimize. And I don't know if for your closing thoughts, if you want to just address that.
Mandy Doman:
Absolutely! And this is one of the things I think is, so it makes it so easy for a parent to know as they're moving through the program, what they should be expecting. And what they can be looking forward to so that there is an awareness of, okay, well, as we're moving through the program, we're training different parts of the auditory system. The way I like to explain it, is if you imagine the keys of a piano. You have very low sounds, low keys to the left, high frequency keys to the right. So what we're doing in a progression, is we're basically taking groups of frequencies. So that the brain has an opportunity to receive all of the benefits of each of these sound frequencies. And not only that, but as we're providing these sounds to the brain, there are very specific functional skills, mental attributes, and even emotional characteristics that typically happen that we seen over the course of 23 years now.
Mandy Doman:
And this is all work are based on the work of Dr. Alfred Tomatis, who was a French ENT. And discovered the role of sound frequency training for performance. So we color code it so you know if we're working on the low frequency sounds. Those are going to be green, the areas that you can expect to see improvements are going to be sensory integration, helping with sound sensitivities, especially. Is going to be helping with motor control, balance, coordination, and it also supports emotional wellbeing.
Mandy Doman:
So it's calming. It helps you to feel less stressed and more integrated. Then we'll quickly move you from green, we'll transition you to what we call orange. Which are the middle range. So we're taking out the middle or the... or, sorry we're taking out the low and removing the high, so that we're just focusing on those middle sounds. What's really interesting is that the human voice, if you see a spectral analysis, the human voice is primarily in those middle zones.
Mandy Doman:
So some of the exciting areas that we see, and this is by about six weeks in. We see lots of changes with speech and language skills, articulation, the more intense. So there's definitely something that's happening through that audio vocal loop. That the voice can only reproduce what the ear can hear. So there's a very strong connection there. We think there's social engagement, attention, learning, and memory. So those are the areas that we just see happen in that orange zone.
Mandy Doman:
Then finally, we move up into the red. This is very energizing, they're the higher frequency. So they make us feel more alert, more engaged, more motivated. We see a lot of really neat things like improved independence. We're addressing, trying new things. So we're moving through these sounds, which are filtered, that's how we get the result. But we also spend time using all of the frequencies. So from 20 to 20,000 Hertz. So we're going to be utilizing all of the frequencies to prepare the system for that more refined training, as we're getting into these different zone areas.
Mandy Doman:
So we do have quite a bit of information available on our website about this, but this is really the key to how it works. And we're going to be using either classical music, or a world style music with percussive instruments. So that's what they're listening to. It's very pleasant. It doesn't take very long. And we move them through a little workout. So we warm you up, we train you with these filters, and then we bring everything back out. So that Theo would be left back in his natural sounding full spectrum environment. So we're not having to spend time reintegrating him. The music does that for you.
Sean:
Right, awesome! And there's obviously a lot of studies with the Mozart effect with classical music. And so this is just adding another layer to that of manipulating the music to personalize the music therapy, is how I understand it. But Mandy, it's always great to interact with you. I think this gives our parents and our audience a good overview of what Advanced Brain Technologies offers, and the Listening Program specifically. I'll link everything on in our show notes. I hope to continue to interact with you and Alex. You guys have been great. So any final thoughts you have for our audience before we close out today?
Mandy Doman:
Just one thing on the music, is that it's all very intentional. When we recorded the music, we actually asked our musicians to imagine that they were playing to someone very near to them. So there have been study after study that shows that you can tell the intentionality of the music. So when you experience it, I hope that you know we created this for you in the hopes of not just entertaining you, but in hopes of helping you to heal.
Sean:
What a beautiful way to leave the podcast. Thank you so much, Mandy. I appreciate it very much.
Mandy Doman:
Thank you, Sean. This was really fun. I appreciate this.
Eva:
Hi, this is the Pure Living Family Podcast. I'm Eva, my little brother is Theo, and my mom and dad are Sean and Angela.