From: J. Scott Yaruss
Date: 10/8/00
Time: 8:59:17 PM
Remote Name: 205.201.42.46
Hey Dale - Thx for the comment. You've raised a really important issue...and of course, in this little paper, Michael and I couldn't address all aspects of counseling that we would like to have covered (hardly ;-).
I think what you're addressing here is the notion that SLPs are most comfortable using what Luterman calls the "informing" response -- many SLPs are most adept at the directive types of therapy where we tell the clients what they need to do or what they need to feel. This is sometimes helpful, but not always, and is certainly not the primary mode for stuttering therapy.
In my counseling class, I spend nearly the whole semester trying to help students learn to use the empathetic response first -- helping the clients recognize their feelings, experiences, and behaviors, that contribute to their statements -- first, acknowledge and validate the feeling, THEN worry about what to do about it...if we don't take the time to accurately identify the feeling, then we can't possibly know what to do about it, so I think we have really missed the boat if we jump right to the informing stage without spending sufficient time UNDERSTANDING what the client has said.
So, in short, you're absolutely right, and it's the biggest challenge I think clinicians face -- particularly clinicians who are not particularly comfortable with stuttering to begin with.
Thanks for the post and the comments. S