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From: Susan Block
Date: 09 Oct 2008
Time: 22:52:58 -0500
Remote Name: 131.172.4.44
Hello Melissa. Good question and not an easy answer as it really depends on what the individual is thinking and feeling and then how they react. However, I think it is hard not to feel anxious if you cannot get yourself fluent in the first place - unless you do some work with a counsellor who can help you develop a way of thinking where you do not worry about how you are speaking and what other people might be thinking. Sometimes it is useful for people to think about what they are doing rather than what they are thinking or feeling - i.e. concentrate on how they are flowing their words (or whatever), rather than worrying about the fact that they might stutter. I think also, often we need to focus on fluency rather than stuttering at some stages of treatment. By this I mean that some people really focus on a relatively small amount of stuttering rather than the large amount of fluency they have. However, I am generalising!