What People Who Stutter Have Taught Me About Demons and Freedom

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Thank you.

From: Walt Manning
Date: 04 Oct 2006
Time: 16:06:36 -0500
Remote Name: 141.225.97.231

Comments

Cindy, Thank you for a wonderful and wise commentary. I fully agree with your initial two comments about how you approach the therapeutic interaction with another person. And I fully enjoyed your wonderful ability to express yourself as you related the 'acceptance' of stuttering with your own story. You may have seen the following but your thoughts remind me of the comments from Gerard Egan's 1990 book The Skilled Helper. At the conclusion of his 1990 edition, Egan has a wonderful paragraph where he discussed the importance of the counselor to go beyond the technology of helping and move toward becoming authentic. He suggests that our clinical and other life experiences can be either a teacher or a tyrant. Going through these experiences provides us with the opportunity to recognize and accept the shadow side of ourselves, our clients, and the world. To do so without becoming a victim is crucial but not the reward of the experience. The events of each life need to be wrestled with, reflected on, and learned from. Only then can these events become our teacher and friend. Wrestling with our self, our colleagues, our friends, our demons, and our God will provide us both pain and comfort. It is that struggle that will help the skilled helper become the wise helper (Egan, 1990, p. 409).


Last changed: 10/24/06