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From: FLORENCE MYERS
Date: 13 Oct 2007
Time: 12:14:18 -0500
Remote Name: 24.45.108.13
SELF-AWARENESS IS A MOST CRITICAL THERAPY GOAL, PERHAPS AS IMPORTANT AS MODULATION OF RATE. SOME CLIENTS ARE SURPRISINGLY GOOD AT GETTING THE CONCEPT OF SELF-AWARENESS DURING STRUCTURED AND FOCUSSED SPEAKING TASKS (E.G., SAYING SHORT SENTENCES WITH CARRIER PHRASE). OTHERS, UNFORTUNATELY, FIND SELF-AWARENESS SKILLS VERY VERY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE, PARTICULARLY WHEN SPEAKING IN A VERY EXTEMPORANEOUS "UNGUARDED" MANNER ABOUT A TOPIC OF HIGH PERSONAL INTEREST. USING RECORDERS (audio and video) IS OFTEN HELPFUL. I HAVE ALSO HAD CLIENTS CLOSE THEIR EYES AS THEY SPEAK TO ATTEND TO THE "INNER SENSES" (KINESTHETIC, AUDITORY) THAT WOULD TELL THEM THAT THEY ARE SPEAKING IN A CLUTTERED WAY. MANY CLUTTERERS ARE KEENLY SENSITIVE TO EXTERNAL INPUT, SO THAT CLOSING ONE'S EYES TO HELP FOCUS ON ONE'S SPEECH OUT PUT MAY BE HELPFUL. THIS THERAPY TECHNIQUE, OF COURSE, IS DONE PRIMARILY DURING THERAPY SESSIONS. BUT IT MIGHT BE AN INTERESTING "TRANSFER" ACTIVITY FURTHER DOWN THE THERAPY PATH BY HAVING CLIENT GENERALIZE THE SELF-AWARENESS SKILLS WHEN TALKING ON THE CELL PHONE (NOT WILE DRIVING, OF COURSE!).