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From: Vivian Sisskin
Date: 16 Oct 2010
Time: 15:29:54 -0500
Remote Name: 96.241.144.161
Erik, You have some good advice from Lynne and David. With therapy, you can learn to change the block into a different kind of disfluency, something more forward-moving and less shameful, but you can also try some things yourself.. but it takes courage. I thought I would talk a little bit about the block: In some cases, the block is what happens to a disfluency when it is “wrapped in fear”. That means that the moment you anticipate the disfluency, you hold back, tense, and prevent yourself from moving to the next sound in the word (frozen.. silence). Your fear of making that noise makes you chose the alternative, escaping by holding back. Therapy strategies that encourage you to “pullout” of the block are successful when the fear of “making the embarrassing noises” is very low. But, in most real life situations, the fear is very high. Instead of trying to make the block “sound better” you can try to get sound in the block. That would be doing the thing you fear the most! This requires courage, anticipation of feeling shame, and willingness to tolerate the shame. It is best done in situations where you are willing to have this happen… a store clerk (where you ask a question and then leave), a short phone call, or with someone with whom you are comfortable showing stuttering. Doing the thing you fear, avoid, or dislike (making stuttering noises) can be the remedy if you do them in very low feared situations and prepare yourself to feel some shame. Vivian