Adult Stuttering Therapy
Stuttering is frequently related to an iceberg. Sailors fear icebergs because the larger more dangerous part of an iceberg is what you can’t see underneath. Like an iceberg, with stuttering the part that you see/ hear (the repetitions, blocks, prolongations) is only a small piece of stuttering. What lies underneath and what is more dangerous is how one reacts to stuttering: the emotions, the fears and what one does to avoid stuttering. For example, someone might…
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Lose eye contact
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Change words
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Avoid certain speaking situations
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Talk around words
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Have secondary behaviors (tap foot, swing arm, breathe heavily etc.)
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Alter life goals (job, relationships, friendships)
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Think about stuttering all day long
Our multi-dimensional therapy approach focuses on all aspects of stuttering. While we cannot take a stutter away, we can reduce it and certainly make talking easier. We can help you find your voice and become an effective confident communicator!!
Frequently Asked Questions about Adult Stuttering Therapy
What is stuttering?
Stuttering is a communication disorder characterized by disruptions or disfluencies in speech. These disfluencies typically present themselves as repetitions, prolongations, or blocks,. In addition, people who stutter frequently exhibit physical tension in their speech muscles, as well as feelings of fear, shame, embarrassment. This combination might cause a person who stutters to develop secondary characteristics (e.g. closing eyes, taping foot), avoid stuttering, avoid speaking situations, and make different life choices.
What does adult stuttering therapy look like?
It is never too late to make changes in your speech! If you are in your 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, or even 80's you can set goals and accomplish them. Whether you want to improve your speech for yourself, job, social life, school, public speaking events or all of the above, we can help you become an outstanding communicator.
In therapy, we look at how you stutter, what happens when you stutter, what you can do to make talking easier (stuttering modification, fluency enhancing techniques, relaxation), how you feel when you stutter, how you are reacting to your stutter (the more you react to stuttering, the more tense you become and the more you stutter!) and how stuttering is affecting your life. Therapy is tailored to your needs and goals. We start in the therapy room and when you are ready we move to real-life situations. Take a risk, and find your voice!
Will you help me become comfortable with job interviews and presentations?
In therapy you will set you goals and we will work on accomplishing these goals. We will help you with job interviews, presentations and help you become an exceptional communicator and presenter.
Why are saying certain words so hard?
Many people who stutter have difficulty with certain words. These are typically the words that you can't change. For example, your name, street name, university, job tile etc.). These words become hard because there is a negative or multiple negative experiences associated with saying these words. Once someone stutters on a word, and associates it as being hard, then the next time that word comes up, the person anticipates it, tenses up and voila... stuttering occurs. All words are created equal except when we begin asscoiating them as being hard. Once we think of them as being difficult, then we tense up and they actually do become very difficult and that stuttering is very real!! But the good news is we can reverse this cycle and help you make these words easy again and equal to any other word you say!!!!
I've had therapy is the past, how will this be different?
We offer a multi-dimentional stuttering therapy that addresses the entirety of stuttering. Many times, people who have only participated in fluency enhancing therapy (therapy that just focuses on being fluent) experience immediate relapse. Fluency enhancing therapy only addresses the tip of the iceberg, the physical aspects of stuttering (repetitions, blocks, prolongations). Unfortunately, like stuttering, if you try to chip away at the top of an iceberg it just comes right back to the surface. Thus, for stuttering therapy to be effective, it is critical to treat all aspects of stuttering: the motor, social, cognitive and affective components of stuttering.