Talk to a PWS Question!
I have spoken to many people who stutter and have received services for their stutter, but they did not always have the best experience with their SLP. What is one thing clinicians should work on or fix in their strategies for therapy and treatment? Are there other aspects that should be focused on along with their stutter that they want to fix, such as mental health, social life, etc.?
Hi Drew – good question.
I think the single most important thing a clinician can work on is pretty simple – ASK the client what they want. Not every person who comes into therapy is there for fluency. People who stutter often chase fluency their whole lives, then feel like they have failed if they still stutter.
In your second question, you wonder if there are other aspects that they want to fix, such as mental health, social life. First, I don’t think you should use the word “fix”. I don’t know of a single person who can fix a part of a person’s identity.
Also, to approach mental health, you need to have specific training in counseling and mental health therapy to work with that with a client. You’d be better of referring the client to a mental health professional, IF that’s something the client wants.
Never assume.
Pam
Hi Pamela! I agree with you in always asking the client first on what they want. I never thought about it this way, until you mentioned that people who stutter are already or often chasing fluency their whole lives, this gives me a better idea as a clinician on how I can help my clients. I also think I typed my second question wrong. I was asking in your personal experience (if you do not mind me asking), how can the clinician fix or change their treatment strategies or ways they go about during therapy. And when I was talking about clients I should have said “work on” instead of fix, you are right. Thank you for informing on this!