About Stuttering and Stammering
Stuttering is a type of communication disorder that manifests itself in different ways. Neurological research has shown that people who stutter process speech and language slightly differently than those who do not stutter
Ultimately, stuttering affects people differently, as some may elongate a soft/vowel sound within a word. Other times, people who stutter will get stuck on a specific single consonant and struggle to complete the word.
Opinions vary on whether or not stuttering is caused by psychological/emotional problems, but from my own experience I believe that underlying tension can be a key part of the problem. If you have a natural tendency to stutter – if this ‘anticipatory anxiety’ is hard-wired – then I have heard from sufferers that it gets worse when they are feeling anxious or are in uncomfortable social situations.
The NHS website seems to back this up, stating that “creating an environment where your child feels more relaxed and confident about talking” and “working on feelings associated with stammering, such as fear and anxiety” can help.
How Hypnotherapy for Stuttering can help
When you book an appointment, we’ll ask you to complete some pre-session work which tells us a lot about the history of your stammering. We’ll also ask you to keep a log of when you stutter, making a note of what was happening, who you were with, what you were feeling and possibly what you were saying in your head.
The problem is often anxiety-based and may arise from a specific incident. We can help you deal with that incident to make sure it loses its emotional impact.
We may also need to work on any negative beliefs or negative self-talk which you may have which make your problem worse.
During hypnosis, you’ll also learn very powerful relaxation techniques that you can use at any time after the hypnosis session has finished. This is important, because if you’re calm you can’t be anxious at the same time.
By addressing the underlying cause of the stutter and also putting in some very powerful conscious and unconscious coping strategies, we can often help people get off the stuttering merry-go-round that is making life miserable.