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From: Ellen-Marie Silverman
Date: 17 Oct 2006
Time: 05:54:07 -0500
Remote Name: 152.163.100.65
Annie: You raise key questions about stuttering problems and how to resolve them, questions I could begin to answer, but I won't. The reason: I don't think it would be helpful to you in the long run to know what Dr. Silverman thinks about these issues. What I think is more valuable for you is for you to answer these questions to the best of your ability for yourself now and from time-to-time. This will empower you as a therapist and, possibly, as a researcher. By asking the questions you did about the nature and help for stuttering problems, I get the impression that you think well, i.e, are incisive and able to synthesize information in new and creative ways. So, I challenge you to answer for yourself the questions you raised and to grow in the process into a confident, skillful therapist. I will make a comment, however, about what you referred to as my "mind over matter" approach. Have you not yet realized that speech therapy itself is a "mind over matter" activity at its core? As therapists, we use mind to identify whether or not a problem exists, whether or not the consumer is ready to successfully undertake a program of treatment, what goals to select, what methods to use, what reinforcement to provide, etc., etc., etc. We use mind to change behavior and belief. Therapy is a mind over matter enterprise!!! Thank you for your interest in "Mind Matters." Ellen-Marie Silverman