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From: Ryan Pollard
Date: 20 Oct 2012
Time: 19:57:51 -0500
Remote Name: 69.116.220.90
Great questions, Richard, you’ve obviously given this topic a lot of thought. Yes, I’d agree that changing one’s thought patterns around stuttering is usually a more difficult process than simply changing how one speaks (or stutters, for that matter). Speech is a motor behavior, like swinging a golf club or swimming. One can learn how to perform an action differently, and it’s going to feel awkward and uncomfortable at first, but eventually it will become automatic with enough practice. Changing one’s cognitions and automatic reactions is not so simple, although, oddly enough, some of the same principles apply. If you’re familiar with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), you’ll know that some of the procedures involve learning how to think differently (and eventually react differently), even when it doesn’t feel natural or normal to think that way. I’m reading a book on the subject right now written by the daughter of one of the founders of CBT (Aaron Beck). Here’s a great quote from Dr. Beck that can clearly be applied to the negative thoughts of PWS: “I theorized that there was a thinking disorder at the core of the psychiatric syndromes such as depression and anxiety. This disorder was reflected in a systematic bias in the way the patients interpreted particular experiences. By pointing out these biased interpretations and proposing alternatives—that is, more plausible explanations—I found that I could produce an almost immediate lessening of the symptoms.” (Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond, 2nd ed., 2011).