A Cognitive Approach to Achieving Fluency

[mawilliams]

Hey all,

It's been a while since I've been on here but it's always great to see the interesting conversations that go on. I have recently picked up a new book on stammering/blocking and thought I would share my thoughts on it with you.

The psychological reasons behind stammering is something that I'm finding all very interesting at the moment. I always thought that my stutter would improve with age, but this obviously isn't the case and I often find myself being fine one week and then awful then next. I have been trying to piece together the reasons why this happens. Originally I figured it was down to stress, tiredness etc. And whilst I still think that plays a part I figured there has to be more to it. I picked up a book called "Mastering Blocking and Stuttering: A Cognitive Approach to Achieving Fluency" and am finding it fascinating. It goes into the reasons behind why we started stammering in the first place, why we carry it with us into adult hood and gives your methods to overcome it. After only reading a couple of chapters I found my stutter had improved drastically and I felt more confident in myself. I went on a date last night and didn't stutter at all, where as previously I would, it was great! :D Now I'm not saying the book has cured me as it is is still early days and I'm still stammering a bit today, but even from reading a couple of chapters it has given me a new outlook on my stammer and the reason why I do it. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Has anyone else here read the book or something similar and found it of use?

Wow sorry I'll stop waffling now. :)

Laters,
Mark

[Keyo]

Mate.. its good to be more fluent, it seems this book just opened a new door in your mind so u can look on your stuttering from a different view...
for me i never found reading of any use... or in other words i rarely do...

[squiggles]

yes!
I have read this book. Well, a good portion of it.
I can relate to a lot of what you said in your post, it almost mirrors my own experiences.

I also strongly suggest checking out John Harrison's work. He over came stuttering, and he has a lot of good essays on this website.
http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/Harrison/essays.html

John Harrison writes on more of a personal note, with real life experiences, they're good reads. I suggest Feelings of Fluency


This line struck me as very meaningful:
"Now I'm not saying the book has cured me as it is is still early days"

This was the first book that I read on stuttering that really had substance, and I also considered these as "early days"
It was the beginning of my inward journey to fluency. as it probably is for you too.

good luck to you.

[Adrian]

I read this book and even attended a week long workshop with Bodenhamer. I liked Bodenhamer and thought he was a genuine guy, but I found he did not have any understanding of the physiological portion of stuttering. Ultimately I found that it did not help with my fluency and dropped the NLP and Neurosemantics.

Well known stuttering blogger has gone so far as awarding Bodenhamer his crackpot award. See the link belows.

http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.com/2007/10/crackpot-award-for-bodehamer.html

http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.com/2006/09/logical-fallacy-of-nlp.html

[JohanZombie]

Im glad to hear you've got som perspective. Perspective is the shit :)

I'm definiately gonna check out this book.

Here is one article: http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/steringdies.html...

and one interview with the author of that article: http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/recovered.html...

that I think is really really good, and that have helped me out a lot.

[mawilliams]

Well known stuttering blogger has gone so far as awarding Bodenhamer his crackpot award. See the link belows.

http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.c...bodehamer.html

http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.c...cy-of-nlp.html

I have to say Adrian I don't find those links helpful, in-fact quite the opposite. Whilst not everyone agrees with NLP for stuttering, it has obviously worked for a lot of people and as he explains in his book, this isn't for everyone. Whilst I agree that Bodenhamer probably doesn't have the best understanding of the physiological aspect of stuttering, I don't see any harm in trying out his methods and maybe marrying them with more physiological ones such as costal breathing. Plus I am finding that since reading the book it has really helped my mindset, not just for stuttering, but my outlook on the world in general. Crackpot he is not. :D

[Adrian]

I have to say Adrian I don't find those links helpful, in-fact quite the opposite. Whilst not everyone agrees with NLP for stuttering, it has obviously worked for a lot of people and as he explains in his book, this isn't for everyone. Whilst I agree that Bodenhamer probably doesn't have the best understanding of the physiological aspect of stuttering, I don't see any harm in trying out his methods and maybe marrying them with more physiological ones such as costal breathing. Plus I am finding that since reading the book it has really helped my mindset, not just for stuttering, but my outlook on the world in general. Crackpot he is not. :D

What makes him a crackpot is not his techniques. What makes him a crackpot is that he attempts to play researcher without any experience or training in this disorder, and is so quick to think he has figured out this complex disorder with his "hunch" of the moment. He ignores the decades of research. In fact when I attended his workshop he was not even aware of the research. He has softened his message slightly since I last saw him but he still has a long way to go. I am tired of people like Bodenhamer misinforming those within our .

[Punjabi]

What makes him a crackpot is that he attempts to play researcher without any experience or training in this disorder, and is so quick to think he has figured out this complex disorder with his "hunch" of the moment. He ignores the decades of research.

Okay, fair point. But this decades of research hasn't done the average
stutterer too much good either.
I think it's very easy to call paople crackpots if their ideas do not match
our own. NLP is an established science, and lot of people have made drastic
changes in their lives through it. I personally know quite a few stutterers
who have gained a lot of control through NLP.

Admittedly, Bodenhiemers book does take a little simplistic view of
some aspects of stuttering, but it also has a lot of substance, and
ideas and exercises that I myself have found to be very useful to me.

Empirical science? Yep, that sounds good.
Practical exercises that help me with my stutter? I'll take that any day!!

All the best.

[jamesm]

Has anyone read Stutter No More? Just Curious

[Iron Cable]

Has anyone read Stutter No More? Just Curious

I've read it. After about five months of nothing, I gave up....

[Thecoherentman]

A stutterer who was a successful salesman told me there are three rules for being a good salesman and stuttering is not a problem if you follow these rules:

1. Sell what is hot.
2. Sell what is hot.
3. sell what is hot.

Bodenhamer is selling what is hot, so are the links promoting drugs.
Nothing is farther than truth than tricking your mind to be cognitively mindless and being out of touch with your fears and inhibition and negative feelings. Stutterers are toughest and bravest group of people in the world. There is no need to tell them otherwise. Feelings are interpretation of doings. By being honest with our feelings and observing carefully we can slowly and little by little modify our doings, letting the fluent speech free, and then our feelings will change also. This cognitive approach of denial of true observation will only makes our progress slower