Beyond Your Ears: The Wider Impact of Hearing Loss

This Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) HearingU webinar explores the wide-reaching effects of hearing loss beyond your ears. Although hearing loss is a physical condition, it is considered primarily a communication disability that can impact emotional well-being and personality traits, relationships, social connections and employment.

Watch as our dynamic panel of mental health experts and hearing health advocates engage in a candid discussion and audience Q&A, including strategies that can help people with hearing loss successfully navigate their emotional challenges so they can thrive.

The webinar was part of HLAA’s Beyond Your Ears campaign to raise awareness of the importance of treatment and support for hearing loss—coinciding with Better Hearing Month and Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2025. HLAA will continue to address this important topic that affects a growing number of people.

Panelists

Ivette Cejas, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Cejas is the director of family support services and professor, Department of Otolaryngology & Psychology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She moderated HLAA’s 2024 Research Symposium, “The Emotional Side of Hearing Loss,” and wrote an article with the same title for the fall/winter issue of Hearing Life magazine. 

Ibrahim “Ib” Dabo

Ib Dabo is a commissioner for the Georgia Commission for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing, past HLAA Board Member and hearing health advocate. He will be a panelist at the HLAA 2025 Research Symposium, “Hearing Loss Stigma: Making the Invisible Actionable.” Ib was diagnosed with hearing loss as a young adult.

Alison Freeman, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Freeman is a clinical psychologist at California State University at Northridge and in her own private therapy practice. A longtime HLAA member with severe bilateral hearing loss, she wrote the latest cover feature for Hearing Life magazine spring 2025 issue, “Hearing Loss Affects More Than Your Ears.“

Moderator

Barbara Kelley, HLAA Executive Director

A well-known leader in hearing health, Barbara Kelley has been with HLAA for 37 years. She sits on top health, communications and regulatory boards across the U.S. and globally, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils (DPCPSI); Hearing Restoration Research Program panel (Congressionally directed medical research program) and Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) board, among many others.

NOTE: HLAA does not offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for participation in our webinars.

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) believes that information about products and services that could benefit people with hearing loss should be made available to help them make informed decisions about their hearing health care. ​We do not endorse products or services, but educate and advocate for a range of assistive technology options to help people understand, connect and stay engaged in their lives. Reference to specific products, services, organizations or claims made in HLAA HearingU webinars, online meetings or discussions does not constitute endorsement, recommendation or favoring by HLAA, nor does exclusion suggest disapproval.

While we make every effort to provide accurate and reliable information, HLAA does not control or guarantee the accuracy, completeness or efficacy of information conveyed by presenters. HLAA HearingU webinars are intended for general information only and do not constitute medical or mental health advice. Please consult a health care professional with any concerns.