[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Darrell Dodge
Date: 10/6/03
Time: 2:43:51 AM
Remote Name: 198.81.26.169
Woody and Janet:
There are many extremely interesting similarities, as you've discussed in your fine article, between stuttering and PTSD. I would add to them: the probable underlying brain processes, the apparent genetic predisposition, the disassociation (which, based on my clinical experience, is probably even more prevalent than Lou Heite was able to find in her survey) and the experience of helplessness that accompanies the initial trauma(s). The key difference, as you've noted, is that stuttering is not in the past for the stuttering person. It is in the here and now and the future, and will keep happening through the early stages of therapy. For some people, the initial trauma is refreshed, via the association of conditioning and the substrate circuitry of stuttering behavior, for a lifetime, every time he/she experiences a breakdown in fluency. This constant repetition and reinjury is perhaps why the petit morte experience in stuttering is often more total than for people experiencing PTSD, with the occurence of an actual loss of consciousness not being uncommon during stuttering blocks.
This point of view, developed over the last 10 years of my thinking about the possible association of stuttering and PTSD, leads me to my question. In your article, you mention helping the client stutter more easily and more openly and this certainly is the first step for many in beginning the healing process. But you don't specifically mention therapeutic activities designed to actively address the feeling of helplessness that may continue to be associated with stuttering. Does your therapy include the mix of client-initiated fluency shaping and stuttering modification activities (in addition to counseling, of course) that are a part of other approaches? Or have you found that these are not necessary for success?
This is not a question for debate. I'm just curious about your approach.
Best Regards,
Darrell Dodge