The reason for un-satisfying with stuttering treatment
Hi everybody,
The most stutterers that I know, are un-satisfied with the stuttering treatment they received.
Several SLP told me that this is because the stutterers expect a “magic” cure.
I for the other hand think, that some SLP’s don’t understand the patient needs.
For example:the difference between the therapy room and the real world and go on….
What do you think?
Thanks
Ari
geashono@gmail.com
Hi Ari, I think that there is a lot about stuttering that has not been understood and this is the real reason that many people who stutter have had unsatisfactory therapy experiences. I fully understand why clients are dissatisfied when they put time, effort and often money into therapy and don’t achieve the desired results. Clients come to clinicians feeling that the clinician should have all the answers. Happily we have more of them today, but many answers have yet to be found. Until we do find the gene that can engineered or the chemical that can be balanced or whatever, therapy is a process of making changes. It is a collaboration of client and clinician. For instance, to refer to what you said, a clinician does need to understand what makes the therapy room different from the outside world to the client. The client has to be willing to explore the inner thoughts that are making the situations different. With the clinician’s guidance, it is the client that has to changing the thoughts. In addition, before starting therapy, expectations from the perspective of both client and clinician should be made clear. If they do not coordinate, expectations may be shaped or the client should look elsewhere for therapy.
Willie Botterill puts it very nicely: Clinicians and People who Stutter ‘need to develop a more collaborative relationship based on sharing what we know with what they know and what we don’t know’
Are, much is to be said about this topic. One important aspect which might reduce unsatisfactory therapy experiences, is to share expecations from both perspectives not only in the beginning of the therapy, but throughout the whole collaborative process. Make an evaluation each time you end a session, and also in the beginning of the next one. Then you can be more certain that you are in the right individual “track” and that you both are satisfied with the collaboration and the goals you are trying to achieve in therapy. I support Barbara’s statement above: If the perspectives to not coordinate, expectations may be shaped or the Client should look elsewhere for therapy… (even though we know that finding other clinicians might be more difficult in practical life than in theory.) It takes only some minutes, but it can make a big positive difference in treatment. Best wishes, Hilda Sønsterud