ALP/Approach TRAINER

The Active Listening Playground (ALP/Approach)

Isabel discovered the Active Listening Playground (ALP) in 2013, when she was part of a Think Tank at the German Language & Culture Center (Goethe Institute) in Rabat (Morocco). The Think Tank dealt with the topics of "Human Development and Education" in the context of Morocco. The composer and founder of the ALP Method, Keren Rosenbaum, has been a teacher, inspiration and friend of Isabel since 2001. It has been through the project of the ALP Morocco, that they have been working and collaborating until today on international ALP projects. Isabel became a certified ALP Trainer of the Reflexive Music Academy in 2015 and she is a member of the non-profit organization Composing Community. The organization under the lead of Keren Rosenbaum creates and offers different Active Listening Playground programs, as well as Executive Playgrounds to foster Active Listening and Playfulness in professional environments.

What is the Active Listening Playground (ALP/Approach)

https://www.composingcommunity.com/alpapproach - https://www.reflexivemusic.com/reflexiveinvisiblescores

A Platform for Multisensory Communication, Creativity, and Connection

The ALP/Playground Approach is a multidimensional methodology for communication and development. Created by composer, conductor and educator Keren Rosenbaum, it is rooted in Reflexive Music—a synesthetic and relational form of expression where sound, movement, and presence create new ways to listen, connect, and co-create.

From Active to Attune Listening

When Listening Becomes Resonance

Originally based on Active Listening, the approach has evolved into Attune Listening—a deeper practice where presence becomes mutual and communication becomes responsive.

In this shift, listening is no longer about focus alone—it’s about resonance: aligning with another person’s rhythm, energy, emotion, and silence.

This resonance forms the foundation for Reflexive Communication—a dynamic, co-created conversation across senses.

Why /Playground?

More Than a Metaphor — A Platform for Change

The slash (/) in ALP/Playground signals that this is not a one-size-fits-all method—it is a flexible platform adaptable to different human contexts:

Family Playground – for parents and children learning to communicate beyond conflict
Executive Playground – for teams cultivating creative, embodied leadership
Community Playground – for choirs, schools, and shared cultural expression
Art Playground – for improvisation, collaboration, and creative flow
Therapeutic Playground – for co-regulation, emotional safety, and expression without words

Each Playground is custom-designed to meet the relational and developmental needs of its participants.

Practicing Playfulness

Inner Play as a Way of Being

At the heart of the ALP/Playground Approach is Playfulness—not as a method of distraction, but as a deep mode of interaction.
This is Inner Play: curiosity, responsiveness, improvisation, and joy. Through structured exercises and improvisational tools, participants enter a state of dynamic co-creation where every movement, sound, or gesture can become meaningful.

Playfulness helps build flexibility, resilience, and emotional regulation—all essential to healthy human connection.

The ALP Tools – Reflexive Music Scores

Structured Exercises for Co-Creation

The ALP/Playground Tools, also known as Reflexive Visual Music Scores, are original practices that use rhythm, sound, movement, silence, and visual cues to activate communication. No musical background is needed—these are scores for connection, not performance.

Participants rehearse roles of listening, initiating, leading, and responding—practicing empathy, attunement, and creative collaboration in real time.

🗣️ Reflexive Communication

Beyond Words, Across Senses

Reflexive Communication is a form of sensory-rich interaction. It invites people to connect through multisensory awareness—tone, tempo, gaze, pressure, and gesture.
It’s especially effective with:

Neurodivergent individuals
Pre-verbal children
Multilingual communities
Emotionally complex or high-stress environments

This approach enables what we call a polyphonic conversation—where multiple emotional and sensory layers are expressed and heard simultaneously.

Who Is It For?

Applications in Diverse Contexts

The ALP/Playground Approach is practiced in:

Educational programs
Therapeutic work with autistic and neurodivergent individuals
Community and arts-based initiatives
Organizational team development and leadership training
Parent-child relationships and family systems

Each Playground is adapted to its setting—offering real-world practice in communication, regulation, and co-creation.

Key Benefits and Guiding Values

Reflexive Awareness – real-time self and other awareness
Multisensory Communication – expanding language beyond words
Fluid Role Practice – leading, following, initiating, responding
Creative Confidence – improvising within safe structure
Attuned Relationships – playful, compassionate connection
Salutogenic Focus – building resilience and well-being through expression

A Universal Framework for Growth

The ALP/Playground Approach is more than a method—it’s a platform for transformation.
By integrating sound, movement, emotion, and play, it opens new pathways for listening, healing, learning, and leading.

Wherever it’s practiced—in families, schools, therapy rooms, refugee camps, choirs, or boardrooms—the Playground invites us to reimagine communication as something we find, play, share, and create—together.

Professional Reference Letter by Keren Rosenbaum

ALP in the Music Class

As music teacher, Isabel has been challenged with mixed student groups with very different levels of understanding about Music in different music classes with different age groups. Therefore she uses the ALP Method in order to let her students experience that every sound can become music, and teaches them to understand their voices and bodies as musical instruments on the ever present stage of life. The ALP Method allows students to experience and practice people skills, such as collaboration, teambuilding, empathy, leadership, communication, creativity, self-confidence, and trust .