Stuttering Online Therapy

Desire of people who stutter: Becoming fluent

Reason for continuing to stutter: Trying to become fluent

So many people who stutter go to therapy to fulfill their desire to become a fluent speaker, only to be disappointed when it doesn’t happen. They try and they try, and the more they try, the more they become frustrated. The consequence is either giving up on their hope of ever speaking without stuttering or continuing to search in vain for the magic cure that will get rid of their stuttering.

I don’t believe there are any magic cures, but I do know that people who stutter can speak fluently. I also know that people who stutter will never speak with normal fluency by trying to speak fluently. As a matter of fact, trying to be fluent is very counterproductive, because it usually makes the person more aware of words (a good way to make stuttering happen), and putting in more effort to try to get them out (adding control to what must be an automatic process).

It’s hard for people who stutter to grasp that there is a way that they can create fluent speech without chasing after fluency. Perhaps that is why the hardest challenge of Dynamic Stuttering Therapy is to keep clients focused on the internal processes of creating speech when all the really want is the outcome-fluent speech. In Dynamic Stuttering Therapy, fluency is never the criteria of success. Nevertheless, when the person creates speech in the normal way, the effortless outcome is fluent speech.

As I write this, I am watching the Winter Olympics. I see sportsman after sportswoman focused on their process for their sport as they go for the gold. I think this is a good example of how to achieve success in therapy.

Desire of people who stutter: Becoming fluent

Reason speech is fluent: Focus is on the inner processes of creating speech

I am often asked to explain how Dynamic Stuttering Therapy differs from other therapies. The short answer is in almost every way. The more complete answer is that our focus is not on how to, or not to stutter. Dynamic Stuttering Therapy shows clients how to produce speech in the same way that normally fluent speakers produce speech. Naturally, if the process for producing speech is the same, the results are also the same – normally fluent speech. This is logical. People who stutter are capable of changing the way they process speech, so it is also possible. There is a clinically proven cause and effect between speech processing and fluency. That is why Dynamic Stuttering Therapy is the most effective approach for treating stuttering.

For some strange reason, until now people have thought of stuttering as if it were a condition that has little to do with the process of speaking. This is unlike almost any other speech condition in the field of Speech Therapy. If a person has poor vocal quality, the goal of therapy is to change the way the voice functions. If a child has language development problems, we search for the weakness in language processing and work to strengthen it, and so forth. However, with stuttering the goal is either on directly changing the speech itself or, alternatively, accepting that “once a stutterer, always a stutterer”.

There are therapies that do try to manipulate aspects of speaking, such as controlling the rhythm of speech, slowing it down, or controlling breathing. However, while in some cases these approaches might inadvertently cause the speaker to change the interactive neural process of producing speech, they do not actually deal directly with normal speech production. Dynamic Stuttering Therapy directly treats the neural network involved in creating speech.

The normal process for producing speech is essentially automatic. Controlling what you will say or how to say it is the antithesis of normal processing. We do not tell our clients to speak slowly, control their breathing, use gentle onsets or other techniques that require control. We guide them to give up control and show them how to speak automatically and without effort.

Dynamic Stuttering Therapy is an exciting experience, because people who stutter see that within themselves, they have the basic ability to produce speech normally. In some cases they even use this ability some of the time. However, because their focus is so much on the outcome, fluency/stuttering, they are not aware of the inner workings of speaking. Dynamic Stuttering Therapy is a process of self-discovery and change. There is no pressure on our clients to be fluent speakers. However, as they develop greater awareness of their way of producing speech their attitudes and behaviors gradually change. Speaking becomes effortless, comfortable and enjoyable.