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From: Scott Palasik
Date: 18 Oct 2010
Time: 20:19:50 -0500
Remote Name: 68.63.221.248
Lauren, HI! First, welcome to being a master's student and congrats on choosing to help people of all ages with communication disorders. Your question of what to tell parents who have children who stutter is a vital one. It is as vital to ask what do you NOT tell them (with this I mean how can you listen)... What you can tell parents is provide them with knowledge you have about stuttering (there is no known cause and no known cure), however we can help people who stutter AND their families by leading them to paths of acceptance of stuttering and acceptance of the whole person through addressing "thoughts" and "values". The main thing we can do for parents is model "honesty". If we want parents and clients to be honest and share their thoughts (deep emotional thoughts) we can be "willing" to share parts of us (our challenges and fears). By doing this we are letting parents know that their sessions are for sharing (anything). Last, and not least you can provide them information about the National Stuttering Association (NSA) support groups (Stutter Buddies for kids) and the Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter. Both are WONDERFUL sources of information for parents and for yourself as a therapist. Bottom line, we can arm parents with knowledge and honesty, in order to guide them to acceptance by getting to the heart of their thoughts that maybe causing any suffering(fears, anger, shame, guilt, blame)...Thank you so so much for writing, asking questions, and taking an active role in your education process by gathering information... The above are just my thoughts I have gathered from reading and participating in many counseling approaches, contextual behavioral psychology, and Eastern Philosophies... Have a wonderful day! Scott