About the Author: Jorie (Marjorie) Rosenthal Foer, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF, is a speech-language pathologist who stuttered briefly in her twenties and experienced fear of speaking in groups of two or more for over four decades. She is one of the initial cadre of SLPs to become Board Recognized/Certified in Stuttering, Cluttering Fluency. In her private practice, StutteRevolution.com, she delights in helping people discover and identify with their Self Energy/Inner Wisdom and learn to trust their Innate Ability to Speak Naturally.

The goal of this article is to awaken a place inside you that already knows the truth.

Which feels closer to how you live your life?

a) Stuttering often controls how I manage my life, deciding whether or not I say what I want to say, when and how I want to say it. It often feels like I am its puppet.

b) I know that I am not my stutter. My intrinsic nature is who I am, not my stutter. I know that my Essence yearns to express itself fully, and I have moments when words flow effortlessly, spontaneously, without planning.

Your Essence, Inner Wisdom, Core, or Self Energy are all names for who you Truly are. Who you Truly are shines when you’re in Self Energy: the 8Cs (curiosity, compassion, calm, courage, clarity, creativity, confidence, connection) and the 5Ps (patience, persistence, perspective, playfulness, presence)—qualities described by Richard Schwartz, creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS). I also add love, hope, gratitude, peace, grace, freedom, and joy.

Any Energy that feels light, unlimited, and expansive is a Self Energy. It’s coming from your True Nature, your Essence.

When you’re in enough Self Energy, your Innate Ability to Speak Naturally (IASN) flows effortlessly instead of being hidden and overpowered by protective stuttering system parts. “Parts” in IFS are aspects of us that carry beliefs and strategies for survival. Parts energies feel restrictive, limiting, and contractive. They have the best intentions, but they are “born” from fear, operating as if you’re still in harm’s way. Their perceptions, beliefs, emotions, physiological responses, intentions, and behaviors often become “frozen” in time. When we turn toward them with True Self Energy, they gradually trust us and let Self Energies lead.

How Context Shapes Our Stuttering System

Context plays a powerful role in how stuttering shows up. For Patrick, ordering food became the trigger. For Steve, it was introducing himself—smooth in one setting, blocked in another.

Patrick’s Story: Avoidance and the Restaurant Table

Even though Patrick stuttered, he was able to order food with ease at restaurants three to four times a week. Then one day he had a big block when ordering, and he felt embarrassed. He shook it off. The next day it happened again. This time he noticed something new—he realized that he was now expecting it to happen in the future.

That expectation became a belief, and his stuttering system parts jumped in. Some parts said: “Don’t risk it—just stay home.” Others insisted: “Push through, you can’t let stuttering win.”

The Avoider pulled one way, the Pusher pulled the other, and Patrick’s IASN got crowded out. Soon he stopped going to restaurants altogether.

When Patrick and I began working with IFS, he started listening to these parts instead of resisting them. He saw how they were trying to protect him, even though their strategies created the very feelings they feared. With curiosity and compassion, he updated them: “I can handle this now. You don’t have to protect me in this way anymore.”

Patrick was learning to be an alchemist—turning fear into curiosity and avoidance into openness. Within three months, he decided to go back to the same restaurant. His IASN flowed, and ordering a meal was effortless again.

Reflection Prompt: When you notice an Avoider, a Pusher, or any other part stepping in, pause and ask with true curiosity: Why are you here now? What would you like me to know?

Steve’s Story: Family and the “Introducing Myself” Parts

Before a major business event, Steve met with his “introducing myself” parts. He reassured them: “I know I can feel confident, comfortable and present tonight. There’s no need to protect me, relax and watch me shine.” And they did. He introduced himself to executive after executive with ease.

But two days later, at a family funeral, everything shifted. Seeing relatives he hadn’t spoken to in more than 25 years, Steve’s stuttering system parts took control when he had to introduce himself. He was curious why his stuttering system was even more activated with family than at high-stress business events.

To understand what was happening, it helps to look at John Harrison’s Stuttering Hexagon: beliefs, emotions, intentions, perceptions, physiological responses, and behaviors. I add True Self Energy to the center of his Hexagon.

First, Steve realized that he never spoke to his parts in advance of the funeral to prepare them for all the introductions with family, and then he remembered how much the perceptions of certain family members mattered. This was a context that triggered his stuttering parts to go into high gear to protect him from stuttering. This is how it played out: His parts perceived the threat of judgment. They believed he would block on his name. They felt extreme fear and shame (emotions) as they anticipated blocking. This made his tension parts (physiological responses) add fuel. All parts set their intentions to not stutter—which of course resulted in the behavior of blocking.

In therapy, Steve turned toward his parts with curiosity and compassion instead of suppressing them. He reminded them about his IASN and showed them—through imagination—how Self Energies like confidence and presence could connect him to his IASN with ease. His parts got the message.

They continued to develop trust that Steve’s Self Energy would be strong in different contexts. They revealed long-held beliefs that had kept him stuck. Slowly, they transformed from protectors into guides pointing him back to his True Self.

This too was an act of alchemy—transforming fear-driven parts into allies.

Reflection Prompt: Imagine you’re about to speak in a situation where your stuttering system parts usually show up. Instead of listening to their fears, pause and amplify your connection with the Self Energies you want most, and let yourself speak from a place that resonates as your Truth.

The Larger Truth

Patrick’s Avoider and Steve’s “introducing myself” parts are not unique. Each of us carries a particular combination of parts, experiences, and strengths that shapes how we stutter and how we live.

When we become curious about our stuttering system, we see that blocks, pushes, and avoidances are not failures. They are signals—doorways inward—reminding us to reconnect with our Essence, our Self Energy, and our IASN.

Reflection Prompt: Shift your focus from the noise of your parts to the quiet guidance of your True Self. Ask: When I rest in my Essence and allow my IASN to feel safe and act from its rightful place, what do I want to express now, with ease and authenticity?

Closing: A Daily Invitation

Stuttering parts may try to define you, but your intrinsic nature is who you are, not your stutter.

Every block, push, and avoidance carries a hidden gift. Each one is an invitation to align with clarity, confidence, strength, and presence. This is how to become an alchemist—turning stuttering from a battle within into a blessing in disguise.

Stuttering transforms from being an obstacle to being your best friend—guiding you inward to rediscover your Inner Wisdom, your Essence, your Truth. This reconnection empowers you to feel comfortable Being You.

So here’s an invitation you can carry with you:

How would I feel if I responded from my True Self, without stuttering parts leading? Am I ready to gently call forth my Essence and allow my IASN to flow from its rightful place?

Readiness isn’t about perfection. It’s about willingness. Each time you pause and invite Self Energy forward—curiosity, compassion, confidence, calm—you create space for your True Self to shine.

This is our shared work as a diverse stuttering community: not to erase stuttering, but to embrace it as a blessing in disguise—a teacher that reveals our courage, (self) compassion, and grace. Together, we are discovering the strengths that have been within us all along and learning to illuminate the world with our light.

References

• Harrison, J. (2011). Redefining Stuttering: What the Struggle to Speak is Really All About (1st ed.). National Stuttering Association.


• Schwartz, R. (2021). No Bad Parts (1st ed.). Sounds True.