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From: Peter Reitzes
Date: 22 Oct 2009
Time: 18:14:49 -0500
Remote Name: 76.15.239.95
Anna, thanks for writing. It has been my experience that avoidance lurks around every corner for people who stutter. In my view, the client and the clinician need to have open, frequent, and frank conversations about stuttering and speech tools throughout the therapy process. Ideally, during and after therapy the client is talking about stuttering with other people who stutter and is examining when, why and how speech tools are being used. Sometimes (at least in my experience) the speech therapist is the one avoiding. What I mean is that some speech pathologists are so concerned that a speech tool may be counterproductive that he or she does not discuss the tool with clients. My advice to you (if I may be so bold) is not to let your concerns about avoidance steer you towards avoiding pausing. I think it is a great to have concerns and reservations about all tools and approaches, but in my experience, experimenting with speech tools and constantly discussing and thinking about them is the way to go. As far as the term “relax” goes, that is a word I would avoid at all costs. In my experience, relax is not descriptive and often is heard as patronizing and out of touch. Sometimes, one hears the word relax and the implication is that the speaker is uptight. Instead of using the word “relax,” I would search for descriptive language. As far as the word “release” goes, I really don’t know. In my experience, the best language to use is language that is meaningful to the client. I am always asking my clients, “What should we call this?”