Treatment by Tom Dozier

For immediate help, call Tom at 925-322-5100 or email [email protected] to find out about and schedule an assessment/education/management/treatment-options session.  Download assessment forms:  Misophonia-Assessment-Forms

Tom Dozier is a behavior scientist who began studying misophonia in 2012.  He is the author of 7 journal articles on misophonia and has conducted 2 experimental studies on misophonia.  He has presented at every Misophonia Association Annual Conference and several other conferences.  He is the founder and president of the Misophonia Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit.  He is the author of Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia, 2nd edition: A Conditioned Aversive Reflex Disorder.  He developed the Neural Repatterning Technique for misophonia, the Trigger Tamer apps, and several other misophonia treatment techniques.  Tom’s research on misophonia makes him uniquely qualified to provide effective treatments for misophonia.  He has a Master’s of Science degree from California State University, Stanislaus, which was titled, Behavior Analysis and the Family.  Tom has certifications from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and the Board of Behavior Analyst Specialties.  The certification which is most applicable to his work in misophonia is Behavior Analyst Mastery Certification: Behavior Consultation and Clinical Behavior Therapy.

Tom regularly works with individuals world-wide through confidential internet video-chat.  If you are interested in his help, please fill out the forms (Misophonia-Assessment-Forms).

Tom Dozier, author of Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia

Tom can work with young children with misophonia by training the parent to provide effective treatment.  This treatment can be provided to literally any age child, including children as young as 2-years-old.  This is generally a “level 2” service as described in the footnote.  The parent spends the most time with the child and has the most influence on the child.  By converting the home into a therapeutic environment, the parent can provide treatment in a broad way that is not possible when the child visits the therapist.  Tom focuses on treating misophonia and behavioral problems which exacerbates the negative effects of misophonia.  Behavior problems in the home often contributes to misophonia severity and the progressive worsening of misophonia.  As a variation in the Neural Repatterning Technique (Trigger Tamer) Tom developed “trigger games” for young children which are very fun and reduce the fundamental misophonic reflex response.

• Tom Dozier, MS, BAMC:BCCBT
• 5801 Arlene Way
• Livermore, CA  94550
• 925-322-5100
• email: [email protected] or [email protected]

More information about the misophonia treatment provided by Tom Dozier.

About Tom Dozier:

Tom is a behaviorist and applies the basic science of human behavior to help others. A part of this science involves human reflexes and how we acquire them. Misophonia is an acquired reflex to the trigger sounds, sights, and other stimuli. Tom applies this science to misophonia so that the reflex reaction to the sound is significantly reduced (or goes away). This is done by creating experimental situations where the controlling brain neurology can reduce the reflex response of misophonia.

It is the behavioral interventions which Tom provides (activities, actions, and behavior skills) that allow the reflex behavior to change. The behavior of misophonia has been identified through research studies as a neurological reflex behavior, and such behavior develops and is controlled by the principles of neuroplasticity or the ability of the brain to change through experience.

Tom also applies his research and experience to educate individuals on misophonia including how it develops, expands, and continues. His teaching on misophonia is especially beneficial on ways an individual can make environmental changes that will greatly reduce the suffering caused by misophonia and prevent the steady worsening of misophonia with time.

Tom expects and hopes that individuals will feel better as they resolve their misophonia, but Tom is not treating emotional or interpersonal distress, and if that sort of treatment is required, Tom would be able to make a referral to a licensed mental health professional or neuropsychotherapist.

Tom does not provide treatment of unconscious or unintended thought and associated behavior. Additionally Tom makes no attempts to directly address emotional and interpersonal dysfunction and conflict. To be clear, Tom is a behaviorist and not a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Tom is not providing psychological services involving the application of psychological principles, methods, and procedures of understanding, predicting, and influencing behavior, such as the principles pertaining to learning, perception, motivation, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. Tom does not provide psychotherapy, which works to modify feelings, conditions, attitudes, and behaviors that are emotionally, intellectually, or socially ineffectual or maladaptive.

Misophonia is not a recognized condition in the DSM-5, and researchers have recommended that it be considered a unique, discrete disorder. More specifically, misophonia is not a sensory processing disorder as referred to in the DSM.

Tom is a behaviorist (and a very good one) whose years of research in misophonia have helped him identify effective behavioral treatments that reduce the misophonic reflex responses and thereby reduce and in some cases completely eliminate the suffering caused by misophonia.

Footnote:  Misophonia Training and Misophonia Services Provided by Tom Dozier:

My goal is to provide the service that you want and need.  I provide 4 levels of behavioral services.  Levels 1 and 2 are provided by me as a Behavioral Life Coach.  Levels 3 and 4 are provided by me as a Behavior Analyst.

1. Misophonia Assessment / Behavioral Instruction / Consultation – This service includes a behavioral assessment of misophonia, which is a reflex or respondent behavior. It also includes teaching you behavioral principles of misophonia and how it applies to your specific situation.  This includes discussing/teaching about misophonia and behavioral interventions that you could choose to apply.
2. Misophonia Assessment / Behavioral Coaching / Consultation with Development of Intervention Plans – This service includes all aspects of #1 above, plus collaboratively developing specific intervention plans for you to implement. It often includes regular follow-up meetings to review plans and developing modifications to intervention plans for you to carry out.
3. *Behavioral Coaching / Consultation with Plans, Data Collection, and Analysis – This service includes all of the above, plus data collection and graphical analysis of the data. Typically, you will collect daily data on your child’s (or your) behavior and send it to me.  I will provide a graphical analysis of the data, so we can easily determine if we are making progress toward your goals.
4. *Behavioral Coaching with Direct Observation – This service includes all of the above, plus direct observation by me and data collection of the behaviors of concern.

*Levels 3 and 4 are “behavior-analytic” interventions, and meet the professional criteria for applied behavior analysis.  Levels 1 and 2 are assessment,behavioral consultation, coaching, and instruction based on the fundamental principles of human behavior.  Levels 1 and 2 interventions are not behavior-analytic interventions, and therefore do not fall under the purview of my BACB certification.  The level of service that you choose will depend on the severity of the problem behavior, your willingness to participate in data collection, and your ability to afford the service provided.

Identifying the characteristics of misophonia, and confirming/refuting your unofficial self-diagnosis of “misophonia” are not covered by my BACB credential.

Testimonials for Tom Dozier

[Except as noted, the following are solicited  testimonials from individuals who have worked with Tom to receive treatment for misophonia for their self or their child.]

M. Tom DOZIER change completely our family life.
My son Mathias, couldn’t go anymore at school, play with other kids, cousins, parents.
His triggers were so strong, that at a time he told us that is was so hard for him that he wanted to cut his hears.
M. DOZIER, with heart and patience leaded us, then followed us to the change.
And what a change, Mathias after such a long time had a great Christmas time with his cousins and family, now can play, share time with us and his friends.
I give thanks to Tom for the deep of my heart in the name of all my family.
May God bless this angel who came to us and help us to change our son.   Sam, Saint Martin

When I discovered my daughter had misophonia, I was very pleased as I did internet research and found that Tom Dozier was a leader in misophonia treatment. I have known Tom personally for over 15 years, and it was very easy for me and my daughter to trust him with her personal struggle. My daughter was immediately put at ease with Tom’s understanding of the condition and was relieved someone truly understood what she was going through. Tom was very easy for my daughter to talk to, had an incredibly insightful understanding of misophoia to share with our daughter and me, and guided our daughter through a very practical treatment plan which included muscle training, the Trigger Tamer, and several other exercises. Tom encouraged her through her misophonia, guided her through the treatment process, and continually worked at reducing the misophonia reflex response. Through working with Tom, my daughter’s misophonia has lessened and she has been successful in accomplishing all of her personal goals and dreams. Thank you, Tom, for helping our daughter, and our family! -M. in NY

As my husband and I were struggling to find help for my daughter who has Misophonia, I was so happy to find Tom Dozier. Tom helped us navigate this new world and offered impactful strategies that we have used not only with our daughter but also with her sibling. Thank you Tom for making it a little easier for our family. C- NJ.

Tom worked with my husband and I on how to deal with our then 8 year old son who had misophonia. We didn’t know that there was even a name for his issue until we saw an article on it. Tom was able to listen to our concerns and give us helpful tips on how to work with a difficult situation. It was very convenient to be able to meet via Skype and get support in the evenings when both us were home. Tom is the expert on misophonia and he really taught us how to live with this condition that our son had been struggling with for years. I highly recommend Tom for coaching to help you or a loved one with misophonia.   JS, San Francisco

Tom has been nothing short of amazing and patient in helping me work through my misophonia. My trigger sounds don’t interrupt my life as much since learning about Tom Dozier and the Misophonia Institute. I am so grateful, beyond words, for what the Misophonia Institute has been able to accomplish in my life, and I strongly encourage anyone suffering to reach out. This was one of the greatest decisions I could have every made.  Thank you so much for everything!   Melissa D. – CA, United States

“I contacted Mr. Dozier because I was deseperate with my misophonia condition which was overtaking my life and was ready to try anything. I already red the book “overcoming misophonia” and thought it would be a good bet to get in touch with the author. Even though he couldnt use is own treatment to help me, he successfuly pointed me to the help I needed has well has providing me usefull management tips. I still have misophonia today but its greatefully more manageable nowedays and still getting better. I’m very glad I did contact Mr. Dozier.   Michael, Quebec, Canada

My two teenage children seemed to develop misophonia right around the time their dad and I separated. I don’t know if the separation and divorce triggered the misophonia or if it would have naturally occurred for them at that particular age. The therapist that we were all seeing at the time had never heard of misophonia, but she did her best to help the children work through it. This yielded no results at all. I was thrilled to discover that there was a therapist who specialized in misophonia, and that he was willing and able to meet via the Internet.

Tom was very sympathetic to our situation. He met with myself and my children several times and suggested exercises that actually made a difference. We are still working through the misophonia, but the children’s symptoms have definitely improved. It’s such a relief to know that there is legitimate help out there and I have hope that my children will continue to improve.   Dana – Roseville, CA

I found Tom’s website on line and I contacted him so I could learn more about Misophonia. My 14 year old daughter had developed this condition in the last ten months severely, and she had it for the last three years mildly. So mildly we, including my daughter, did not even know she had it. Tom was patient, compassionate and knowledgeable. He helped us (my daughter and the whole family) understand what this condition is about, why it happens and how to start managing it. He then directed us to a psychotherapist who does hypnosis and that treatment, combined with hearing aids to produce background white, pink or brown noise and cognitive behavioral has been a life saver for us. She is doing great now and without Tom’s help and direction we would not be where we are now. We are very grateful for his support.   Leticia, Colorado

If you have found yourself on this website we suggest you do yourself and schedule a time to talk with Tom Dozier about strategies for dealing with misophonia. He has deep understanding of the different effects misophonia has on the person who suffers from the situation and the family that is also affected. He gave concrete steps to help mitigate the disruption to our family while trying to de-escalate the misphonia symptoms. By now you know that misophonia doesn’t just go away and that sadly there are very few experienced resources that can help. Tom Dozier is one of them.  F & G
Baltimore, MD

We were in crisis mode with our son’s Misophonia and were relieved to find Tom as a resource in our area. We met with him and found that he had done a lot of research on Misophonia. While there is no known cure, he made some good recommendations including an alternative therapy. Lately our son’s symptoms have improved greatly, and we are appreciative to Tom for his help.   A – San Francisco

Mr. Dozier was incredibly helpful to my adolescent daughter. He is clearly THE expert in misaphonia—but he was also was quite down to earth and kind. That is a rare combination. I learned so much in the parent session with him and he was thoughtful while he assessed my daughter’s triggers. He quickly outlined a treatment plan including how to get help from outside tool and organizations. Our family is not done with our work, but we feel less overwhelmed with Tom’s guidance.   Dr. Katie Dine Young, Hanover, IN

One day while sitting at work, I was really frustrated listening to some of my trigger sounds. I didn’t know there was a term then. I had heard the word “misophonia” so, naturally, I decided to do some research. I came across the Misophonia Treatment website and started reading. I was hooked from the word “treatment”. At that point I knew there was some hope. Tom Dozier had created what I was searching for: a solution. I decided that I wanted to reach out and get more information. Much to my surprise and delight, within a day, Tom reached out to me.

After a couple of meetings with him, I realized a few things. One, it’s way more common than I could have imagined from the few forums I had seen; two, there were treatments that worked for different people; three, it’s all a part of my brain that can be trained. We went through a few methods that had worked with others and some that didn’t but might work with me.

First, we found my trigger reaction. I’ve noticed that these change over time as I get used to dealing with one, another can develop. So my first step was awareness so I can reduce my reaction. The next step that has helped the most is a mantra that helps me realize how ridiculous my reactions (emotion, physical, etc.) are to any given trigger sound. Finally, my husband has helped because he’s now able to laugh at my ridiculous reactions which instantly changes my mood instead of being afraid of my reaction to certain sounds.

Tom has been nothing short of amazing and patient in helping me work through this. I am so grateful, beyond words, for what the Misophonia Institute has been able to accomplish in my life, and I strongly encourage anyone suffering to reach out. This was one of the greatest decisions I could have every made.

Thank you so much for everything!

M.D. – California