Additional Training
Hi all, my name is Kaylee and I am a second year speech-language pathology graduate student. I am currently in a fluency class where we have discussed many aspects of stuttering. I know that in therapy, there are many targets to address, but one in particular is the counseling side of therapy. In oder to gain more knowledge of how to counsel on the emotional experiences and/or responses in PWS, what additional training or certification do you recommend to expand on this.
Thank you.
Hello, my name is Sulema Rodriguez, and I’m a bilingual SLP who stutters/stutterer. Kaylee, thank you for this amazing question as it directly correlates with the ‘Iceberg of Stuttering’. This is an incredible visual that helps us see the deeper components of stuttering that most people don’t see, such as the anxiety, shame, and guilt that are sometimes involved with stuttering. This is a great way in stuttering therapy to start talking about the emotions involved with stuttering. It’s also a great idea to bring family members, peers, etc into the therapy room if possible, so these conversations be better facilitated. This could be through an activity like a presentation on stuttering that the client presents. I believe the most helpful learning experience for me has been learning directly from other people who stutter/stutterers. You can accomplish this by visiting a local NSA chapter or stuttering-related events, such as camps as the community are experts in their experience and learn from one another. I don’t know of any specific training in the US for counseling, but I think these are great places to start!
Hi Kaylee! My colleague, Daniel Shaw, and I wrote a paper for this conference which might be helpful to you as you consider counseling. It’s the one entitled, “Mining for Hope: Expanding the World of Possibilities for Clients Who Stutter.” Some counseling approaches that I draw from are motivational interviewing, Solution Focused Brief Treatment (SFBT), Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), to name a few.