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From: Ellen-Marie Silverman
Date: 20 Oct 2010
Time: 19:48:44 -0500
Remote Name: 64.12.116.143
Hello, Mike. It is possible you may find the paper I wrote, Stuttering, Shenpa, and Me for the 2005 ISAD Conference helpful. It can be accessed through the Stuttering Homepage homepage as can any other paper ever presented at an ISAD Conference. In Stuttering, Shenpa, and Me, I wrote briefly about my experience working with the shenpa of my stuttering. Shenpa is a Tibetan term for creating problems for ourselves by doing things to avoid what we dislike that make us even more unhappy, such as drinking to access to avoid dealing with a rough spot at work or telling a lie to avoid confrontation with a partner that, then, gets exposed. You get the picture. Well, by doing shenpa work, which is a form of mindfulness meditation, we learn to stay with uncomfortable sensations, such as muscular tension, and strong emotions, such as anger and fear. As we learn to do that, we see how we can apply them to stuttering. Then, for the practice, to be truly helpful, we need to do just that --- apply them to stuttering. For me, learning to relate skillfully to the emotions of fear and anger had direct benefits to speaking with greater ease. I hope this has given you some useful direction. Sincerely, Ellen-Marie Silverman