Group therapy vs. Individual therapy
Hello! My name is Maia Schmidt, and I am a second-year speech pathology graduate student. I am currently in a fluency class and externing in a high school with a few of our friends who stutter. I was wondering if there is a preference between conducting stuttering therapy in a group or individually for the students?
Thank you so much in advance! I can’t wait to hear from you all!
Hello Maia
There is no preference. Therapy must be Patient-centric. The nature of the therapy must be suited to the needs and capabilities of the client. While there are benefits to group therapy, it might not be suitable to a specific PWS at a specific time.
The needs and capacities of people in therapy change over time. So, if for one PWS individual therapy was suitable at the start, group therapy might become suitable at a later stage.
One needs to consider the Affective (feelings, emotions) and Cognitive state of the client. Since stuttering is a stigmatized physiological difference, and public stigma often creates self-stigma, feelings of shame, inferiority, or helplessness might be experienced by the client. In such a case, perhaps group therapy would not be initially suitable.
You – the therapist – must be able to assess the situation of the client, consider risks and opportunities for the client, and thereby decide, at different points in time, if individual or group therapy is suitable.
Wishing you much success and fulfillment with your career.
Hanan
Hi Maia
Thank you for your question. I can only speak for myself, as we’re all individuals and bring different luggage to the table.
I would like both. Individual, to get help with and information about what my needs are. But also working in a group, as knowing you’re not alone has changed my life. Hearing other people’s stories and perspectives, and maybe get advice from others on how they deal with situations. Therapy and support groups can also be fun when practicing together, maybe come up with our own ideas on how we’d like to practice. And not only speech practice, but also situational practice. Making phone calls, job interviews, etc. Doing this together can be so helpful, knowing the other person gets it.
But again, that’s my preference. Not everyone like to be in a group, share and practice together, and not everyone likes to be in the therapy room by themselves. Some might even like to have individual therapy, but with a friend in the room, who can learn more about stuttering and do exercises together with.
So in short, always start with the client. But the fact that you’re asking this shows you’re an empathic future SLP. 🙂
I also gave some advice in my paper in this conference, so feel free to have a read. 🙂
Keep them talking
Anita
Hi, Maia, and thank you for this really interesting question.
I like the idea of both, and I think having both available would be the ideal situation.
With individual therapy, it is much easier to discuss personal problems one has in meeting life challenges as a person who stutters, including private matters, and being given individualized advice from an experienced speech-language pathologist.
With group therapy, one can obtain insights from other people who stutter, who may have useful ideas on how to cope with stuttering challenges, based on their own personal experiences.
Both are important, so if it is at all possible to arrange both kinds of therapeutic settings, that would be the most helpful situation.
Each of these kinds of settings can provide valuable aid to the person who stutters, which the other kind of setting may not be able to provide (or to provide as well).