Hypnotherapy And NLP To Help with Stammering (Stuttering)

What is stammering (stuttering)?

The words stammer and stutter fundamentally mean the same thing. These are words that describe a lack of fluency in speech. And whether you are someone who gets stuck repeating the beginning of a word or sentence a number of times before you can get your body and brain to continue with the word or sentence; whether you are someone who sometimes finds the words just won’t come out at all or whether you are just someone who has had difficulty speaking as quickly and fluently as you can think inside, it is perfectly possible - despite what you may have heard some people say - to attain greater ease and fluency.

Most have tried other methods without success

Most of the people who get in touch with me have already tried some of the other methods available. Conventional Speech Therapy, courses in Scotland, Holland and the UK abound and there are also various hypnotists and other alternative practitioners who offer help in this area.

Every stammer is different

One of the things I learnt early on in my work with stammerers is that in just the same way as everyone is unique, so is every stammer. Although the symptoms may be the same the person generating those symptoms is going to be different and unique. So in my view, it is important to work one to one or at least in very small groups where each individual can have time to explore what exactly is going on.

Confidence and stammering

Although there are a number of people who stammer and are not bothered by it, most people find it very frustrating. I have often heard things like ‘if I didn’t stammer, I would be so confident’ and ‘I'm afraid people must think I am not very intelligent. I so often have to change what I want to say around so that I can avoid using the problem words.’

What Causes Stammering?

I don’t know what causes stammering in the first place. I don’t think anyone really does. Some people stammer when they first learn to talk and some suddenly start at a later point in life. Some people can pin down what it was that started them stammering, for example a horrible experience at school seems to be a common story in my practice. The story usually is that they were asked to stand up in class and in front of everyone else, read or talk. The stress of that moment sets off a stammer which seems to go in so deep that from then on they stammer sometimes. Another client of mine brought along her daughter who had been speaking fluently until her younger sister was born and started talking. This younger sister was a very energetic and demanding, confident person who talked louder and more energetically and somehow managed to ‘block’ the older sibling when she wanted to speak. From there, this child learnt how to block her own speaking so that it became a pattern which she continued to repeat from then on.

Patterns of stammering

Certainly I have noticed that in people who have developed their stammers later in life, there seems to be a pattern which they repeat from the time it starts and that becomes the ‘default’ pattern which they use to speak and which makes them into ‘a stammerer’

Some people start life stammering and then seem to grow out of it. In fact the early teens is an age where changes often happen - one way or another! So some people who stammer young, grow out of it in their early teens and some who never stammered before start then. This could be to do with brain development or it could be linked with confidence and nerves. Many stammerers tell me there are others in their immediate family who stammer and they wonder if it is a genetic predisposition.

When Stammering Happens

Some people’s stammer takes the form of getting stuck repeating the first letting in a word or sentence. Some people get stuck repeating words that start with particular letters. Some people do what is known as ‘blocking’. This is when absolutely nothing comes out at all and it takes a huge effort to get a sound out and start to speak. And some people just avoid the troublesome words and find other ways to say the same thing - often in an impoverished manner. Possibly there are other things that people do which they would call a stammer - people are varied and each one of us is unique.

When Stammering Doesn't Happen

One thing that all people who stammer have in common, and so far I have not found an exception to this, is that people just don’t stammer when they are singing! This is regardless of how badly that same person stammers when they speak, even someone with a really severe stammer will sing without a hitch. Surely we have to ask ourselves what that means? In my view, there are only two things that can make the difference from a physiological standpoint, and that is the way we breathe when we sing and the area of the brain that we use when we sing. Both of these possible causes can be addressed using physiological and psychological tools and techniques.

The other time when even some of the severest stammerers are fluent is when they are shouting! So surely we must be asking ourselves what are we doing when we sing and shout that we do differently when we speak?

Inadvertently Planning For Stammering

The other thing I hear a good deal in my practice is that many stammerers know when they are going to stammer ahead of time. So they might hear the thought ‘ I can’t say this word’ or ‘I am going to stammer on this word’. Some stammerers will then choose a different word to use. In fact I get many people who come to me and say they are stammerers but nobody knows! Here are people who have managed to hide their stammers by re-choosing the words they use. The problem with this is that they are then stuck in an impoverished world where they are constantly having to adjust what they say in order to avoid the danger words. I am sure this can’t be very good for them, as a great believer in each of us having as much freedom of expression as possible this seems a pretty frustrating way to have to live! It also must be frustrating and exasperating for someone who knows what he wants to say and then has to say something which expresses the thought less well, just in order to avoid using troublesome words. 

Most people will benefit from these techniques

Whatever kind of stammer someone has one thing is for sure - it exists in the body and/or mind of the person living with it. So, happily, now that we have so much knowledge and have developed so many techniques for re-educating both mind and body, in most cases stammers and stutters can be significantly reduced if not eradicated and fluency can be the aim of anyone who wants it.

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'Stop Stuttering' Self Hypnosis CD and MP3 By Duncan McColl.

For those of you who either for financial or distance reasons are not able to visit Laura Spicer, we are delighted to offer you 'Stop Stuttering' a brilliant self-hypnosis recording by Master Hypnotherapist Duncan McColl. The approach is quite different to Laura's being more traditional analytical hypnotherapy. They are available on this website either as CDs or MP3 downloads. They also come with a money-back guarantee. CLICK HERE for more information about 'Stop Stuttering'.

In addition, you can also buy 'Stop Stuttering' from www.selfhelprecordings.com in the USA.