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From: Barbara Amster
Date: 05 Oct 2009
Time: 15:34:11 -0500
Remote Name: 139.84.48.251
Carlos What an interesting question and one that is not easy to answer. I am not sure whether there is any specific research on the topic but certainly our thoughts and feelings can influence the way we speak and can certainly influence our-self concept. For instance, if we have had some experience that certain sounds or words were difficult in the past to say, when these sounds or words come up in conversation we may feel that we are unable to say them and a block or stutter may occur. Repeated experience with stuttering can influence the way we think about ourselves and can even turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. If a person thinks “Oh no, I have to introduce myself and my name is so hard to say. I just know I am going to stutter on it” the person is more likely to approach saying his name with apprehension, tension , or struggle and this may make his name more difficult to say, increasing the likelihood that he will stutter on it. Similar things can happen when we tell ourselves that a speaking situation is a difficult one or the person we want to talk to is a difficult listener. Because our thoughts can affect our speech some PWS may benefit from examining how their thoughts influence the way they feel and there are several approaches that can be helpful in doing this such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Rational-Emotive Therapy. A self-help book that also helps in exploring thoughts is the "Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns (1989). Hope this is helpful. Barbara