Mental preparedness is an important factor in the successful use of the new process in daily life. Our mind, brain and body work together and affect the way we function. Neurologists believe that sensations and thoughts are stored and become memories that are linked into neural networks by means of synaptic connections. Dr. Shad Helmstetter, a highly acclaimed psychologist wrote, “Every thought we think, every conscious or unconscious thought we say to ourselves, is translated into electrical impulses which, in turn, direct the control centers in our brains to electrically and chemically affect and control every motion, every feeling, every action we take, every moment of every day.” This is why people who stutter feel that their stuttering is triggered by certain situations, such as talking on the phone, speaking with sales people, etc. Imagining that they are going to stutter subconsciously triggers the control mode for speaking. During therapy, clients work just as diligently to change their thoughts as well as their speech production processes.  Work in both realms is done simultaneously. This insures that a link between new thoughts and experiences and the new neural network is established. Mindfulness training, aspects of cognitive psychology such as NLP, REBT, guided imagery, etc. are an integral part of the therapy process, especially for older clients who have negative memories and thoughts that relate to stuttering.

Here we see that trying to transfer fluency is an impossible and debilitating task that results in frustration. Taking steps that allow the process of normal speech production to seep into the mind, brain and body is possible. It requires changes in neurophysiological processes and the thoughts, perspective, and behaviors of our clients. This can be challenging not only for our clients, but also for clinicians. We must challenge our perspective, our beliefs, our thoughts and orientations. We all know that as much as they try and perhaps because they try, clients cannot transfer fluency into their lives. It doesn’t work. We also know that it is not necessary to accept stuttering as a life decree. There are ways to help our clients make the necessary changes so that the speaking experience is easy and automatic in the therapy room and outside.

The process of creating natural speech is, of course, a simple process that requires no thought or effort, as every fluent speaker knows. As a matter of fact, I tell my clients, “If it isn’t simple and comfortable, it can’t be right.” However, using this process both during the therapy sessions and in daily life is not so simple. Clients come to therapy with a whole host of false expectations, frustrations, the lack of belief that they can do anything to change the way they speak and a lack of trust that giving up control of speaking and using an automatic process is possible in general and for them specifically. Therapy, therefore, involves so much more than changing the neural network of speech production. It also involves helping the client to have realistic expectations.

One of the false expectations that is almost universal is the thought “I spoke fluently in therapy so now I want to see if it will work all the time.” This one expectation contains so much of the answer as to why what is done in the therapy session is not done outside the therapy room even when the goal of treatment is to speak naturally.

“I spoke fluently in therapy so now I want to see if it will work all the time.” contains these problems:

1. I’m still focused on fluency.
2. I’m looking for results not focusing on process.
3. I’m trying to do something before I have internalized it.
4. I’m testing to see if it works, because I don’t trust what I’m doing.
5. I’m expecting perfection.
6. I want to use a new neural network before it is hard wired.

During therapy we need to help the client remain focused on process rather than looking for the false reward of succeeding to get a word out in any way possible. If the client “tries to use” the new process in their life too quickly, they might work for the false reward. Most clients do not come to therapy with a lot of patience. They want a quick fix. This is why I actually tell my clients that they are not supposed to use the process until it seems so natural and logical that they are excited, happy and confident about using it in life. The surest way to lose the client’s motivation and perspective is to tell them to use the process in their life before they show me that their focused awareness is in the right place and that they are mentally prepared to use the process.