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From: Tim Mackesey
Date: 07 Oct 2008
Time: 19:47:49 -0500
Remote Name: 68.211.166.143
Some self-awareness began the first day. Like Van Riper's Discovery period we isolated several feared words, sounds, and situations. We learned to experiment with 'pull-outs' the first day. Mirror work has been used. Some 'phrasing' has been used. The cognitive psychology began in session #2. I do 'time-line therapy' in which we go back in time and examine several past incidents of stuttering that were 'traumatic.' These time-line references are when irrational beliefs begin. Like a computer pop-up, these old incidents/memories trigger fear. For example, a kid is in class and feels panic when the teacher says "OK let's go around the room and take turns reading. That child has past time-line references and fears stuttering when it is his turn. THat anticipatory anxiety (aka fight/flight response) can be so intense that strategies like easy onsets are rendered impotent. This anticipatory anxiety often renders in-the-ear devices impotent. Pharmaceuticals are being used to treat some pws with anxiety about stuttering. Read Starkweathers brilliant comparison of PTSD and Stuttering on my website (stuttering-specialist.com). I believe the PTSD article once appeared in a previous ISAD offering.