Working with PWS
When working with PWS in therapy, what would you say is the most important thing to accomplish?
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Working with PWS — 6 Comments
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When working with PWS in therapy, what would you say is the most important thing to accomplish?
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Hello!
This is a very important question. One crucial thing to know in stuttering therapy is to explore what the person him- og herself want to accomplish – and based on the person’s feedback, responses, wishes, goals and dreams. Then we, as SLPs, are more able to know more specifically what the person want to accomplish in life. Within the frame of ACT, this may be defined as a ‘life direction’, which is important to know about. Then we can start to collaborate from here. Best wishes from Hilda
Thank you for your response!
To me, the most important thing to accomplish in therapy is to determine what the client wants and expects to accomplish in therapy.
Therapy cannot be one-sided. The SLP is not “all knowing” just because they studied communication disorders. Rather, the SLP and client should mutually set goals and to check in regularly to see if goals need to be revisited and re-set. Also, both must have a mutual understanding of what “successful therapy” looks like so that both parties know when the natural cycle of therapy is complete.
Pam
Thank you for your response!
Hi! This is a great question, and I agree completely with what has already been said. I always like to say that the speech pathologist provides the template for therapy with the educational background, but the person who stutters steers the ship. The person who stutters must be able to voice their own goals for therapy, and the clinician must in turn be effective in carrying out those goals and seeing them through to fruition. The therapeutic alliance formed between the SLP and the person who stutters is a strong bond of trust and utmost confidentiality. On the same hand, the parent or person who stutters may not understand fully that nature of stuttering to form realistic goals in the therapy room as well. That’s also where the SLP comes in to help with the goal forming process. If a person who stutters or a parent of a child who stutters comes into the therapy room and asks the SLP to make their child “100% fluent” or to “fix this stuttering and fix it now” (I can’t tell you how often this still happens) it is also now the job of the SLP to educate the parent or the person who stutters on the nature of stuttering itself, and mediate the situation/meet in the middle so to speak to make realistic and reachable goals together. So to answer your question, the most important accomplishment is to first establish the goals that the person who stutters wishes to meet but to also ensure that those goals are within the nature of stuttering, and that all parties involved are happy with the therapy process. 🙂 I hope that helps answer your questions. Take care, and be well.
Thank you for your response!