The Professor is in

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Re: maintenance

From: Woody Starkweather
Date: 10/6/01
Time: 4:48:45 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.204.214

Comments

Bob gave a really thoughtful answer to the question, and there really isn't too much to add to it. But perhaps one more idea is also useful. It seems to me that many times relapse occurs because therapists have not fully dealt with the emotional aspects of the disorder. The feelings that stuttering can produce often survive the behavioral treatment. Then they are "seeds" that can grow into the disorder again. Certainly this happens with fear. A person who has learned to speak without stuttering is still afraid he might stutter when he finds himself in a situation that has always evoked stuttering in the past. The fear increases muscular tension, a tendency to avoid, and we're off to the races. Also, therapies that are aimed primarily at increasing fluency are likely, if not carefully executed, to INCREASE fear because of the premium they place on not stuttering. So, the very things that make the person sound better make them more likely to fear stuttering, turning them, essentially, into covert stutterers.

Other feelings associated with stuttering can also survive simplistic behavioral treatment. AS the person re-experiences these feelings, the tendency for stuttering to re-occur is still present.

Woody


Last changed: September 14, 2005