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From: Charlie Healey
Date: 21 Oct 2008
Time: 10:32:42 -0500
Remote Name: 76.84.69.211
What you are seeing with this client is not all that uncommon. I think that many clients come to therapy looking for answers and what you to "fix" them. What they expect is to have therapy done TO them instead of WITH them. I think what I would do with your client is talk with him about what he wants from therapy. Set short term and long term goals together so it's clear what he wants, not what you think is important. We are used to doing things for clients because they don't know what they need to do so we become directive in therapy. With kids you have to but with adults, they have to take the responsibility for change. He may seem unmotivated right now because he is waiting for something to happen in therapy that he thinks will help. If he is not reporting on his successes, maybe he doesn't feel he has any. So, I would open a discussion of what he expects to do when he speaks outside of therapy, what he is attempting to do, and how he is going about a particular speaking situation. Perhaps he needs some specific assignments to do outside of therapy and then be specific about what he is to do. If he doesn't do them or "forgets" to do them, then I would explore why. It also could be that he has a lot of fears or anxiety about stuttering and therapy is the only place he feels comfortable. So, there are lots of things I would explore with him but try to have him specify what he wants from therapy and then try to find ways the two of you can work toward those goals together.