Home page of Samuel Trychin, Ph.D.

Dr. Trychin's Living With Hearing Loss Program is a product of twenty-two years of experience working directly with hundreds of people who are hard of hearing and their family members. Additionally, many more people who are hard of hearing, their family members, and professionals who serve them have benefitted from his training programs, presentations, and workshops.

Hearing loss is a communication disorder affecting everyone in the communication situation-- the person speaking as well as the person with hearing loss who is trying to listen. For that reason, the Living With Hearing Loss Program is designed to meet the needs of family members, friends, coworkers, and service providers as well as the person who is hard of hearing.

The overall focus of The Living with Hearing Loss Program is on helping people:

Manage themselves--by reducing the physical/emotional/cognitive distress related to hearing loss: See Dr. Trychin's proactive technique in the "Living With Hearing Loss Program"
Manage situations--by preventing and reducing communication and other problems related to hearing loss: Read Dr. Trychin's approach in the publication "Workbook"

Accomplishing these goals requires learning new strategies and tactics that have been reported to be useful by many people who are hard of hearing and their family members. The various components of the Living With Hearing Loss Program focus on these strategies and tactics.

Hearing loss can have a negative effect on self-esteem, relationships, physical health, and everyday functioning. Often, people who live with hearing loss know very little about the condition and are unaware of the many ways it affects their lives. A thorough discussion of these issues is provided in the "Living With Hearing Loss: Workbook"
There are many factors other than hearing loss that can contribute to communication difficulties. Preventing and reducing communication problems requires two steps:
1. Identifying the specific cause(s) of the communication problem, and
2. Altering some aspect of communication behavior or of the environment.

Learning and practicing effective communication behavior is an essential component of this process. Dr. Trychin details these practices in "Living With Hearing Loss: Communication Rules"

A person's attitude and behavior is very important when attempting to resolve communication problems by requesting that someone do something differently. There are specific things that people do or say that increase the probability of compliance with the request and there are other things that people do or say that decrease the probability that others will cooperate. Dr. Trychin's publication "Living With Hearing Loss: Did I Do That?" addresses this approach.
Sometimes, problems related to a person's hearing loss result in a long-standing disagreement or conflict between family members. Some of the techniques that people use to resolve conflicts involving hearing loss in family situations are effective and serve to strengthen the bonds that draw family members together. Other methods are ineffective and can result in weakening these bonds, pushing family members apart and deepening the conflict. Techniques for successful negotiation are outlined in Dr. Trychin's "Living With Hearing Loss: Problem Solving in Families"
Using skits or role-plays to demonstrate problem situations involving hearing loss is a useful and fun method for conveying information and generating helpful discussion in family situations, self-help group meetings, classrooms, or group counseling sessions. The goals of role-playing are to provide people with opportunity to practice:
1. Identifying the specific problems portrayed in the skits,
2. Identifying the specific cause(s) of those problems, and
3. Identifying alternative, effective communication behavior, as illustrated in Dr. Trychin's publication "Living With Hearing Loss: Actions Speak Louder"
Failing to understand, or not being certain that one is correctly understanding, what is being said can produce high levels of anxiety and tension for people who are hard of hearing. This is especially true in situations where understanding is deemed to be important. The cumulative effect of these situations over days, weeks, or months, let alone years, can be devastating both physically and psychologically. Learning to relax in these difficult situations has both physical and psychological benefits. Learn the benefits and methods in "Living With Hearing Loss: Relaxation Training"
Certain attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions related to hearing impairment are incorrect, unrealistic, and/or maladaptive and impede finding ways to accommodate the hearing loss. Identifying and changing unproductive thoughts and beliefs is a necessary step in living effectively with hearing loss. Learn to recognize and adjust these thoughts in "Living With Hearing Loss: Is That What You Think?"
Children who have less than normal hearing are at high risk for experiencing academic, emotional, and social problems. If school personnel do not identify hearing loss, recognize its implications, and provide effective accommodations the probability is high that the student who is hard of hearing will not function to her or his capacity academically, will experience social isolation, and will have diminished self-confidence. The school experience will be more productive by following the recommendations of Dr. Trychin in "Living with Hearing Loss: at School"

Contact Dr. Trychin at samtrychin@adelphia.net or by phoning (814)897-1194. Mailing address is Sam Trychin, Ph.D., 212 Cambridge Road, Erie, PA., 16511.

Samuel Trychin, Ph.D.

A life dedicated to educating people who are hard of hearing and their families and friends.