Speech Disorder

Mental Health Counselling for Speech Disorder & Communication Issues – Available in Wolverhampton and Online

Stuttering (or stammering) is a common speech disorder in which the flow of speech is broken by repetitions (li-li-like this), prolongations (lllllike this), or abnormal stoppages (no sound) of sounds and syllables.

There may also be unusual facial and body movements associated with the effort to speak.

Interestingly, sufferers may not stutter or stammer at all when they cannot hear their own voice, for example when using headphones & listening to music on an i-pod and then speaking to somebody nearby.

This strongly suggests that the “self-evaluated feed-back” of hearing their own speech disorder plays a role in the event itself.

What Can Cause a Speech Disorder?

There are a number of factors that have been cited to contribute to the development of a speech disorder, although positively identifying any particular cause does not necessarily mean an easy solution:

• Genetics – approximately 60% of those who stutter have a family member who does also
• Childhood development – children with other speech and language problems or developmental delays are more likely to stutter
• Neurophysiology – recent neurological research has shown that people who stutter process speech and language slightly differently than those who do not stutter
• Family dynamics – high expectations and fast-paced lifestyles may contribute to stuttering
• Environmental social factors – growing up with stressed and angry parents – parents shouting at their children

Speech Disorders may occur when a combination of factors come together and may have different causes in different people.

It is probable that what causes a speech disorder differs from what makes it continue or get worse.

Is A Speech Disorder Caused by Emotional or Psychological Problems?

Children and adults who develop a speech disorder are no more likely to have psychological or emotional problems than children and adults who do not.

Often a person suffering a speech disorder has placed themselves under so much “internal pressure” that the problem could almost be described as “Anticipatory Anxiety”, a process we examine and discuss at length in our Thrive Programme.

Speech disorders such as stammering are often the result of Social Anxiety Disorder and almost certainly exacerbated by a sense of being judged or feeling “on the spot”.

Therapy for the Treatment of Speech Disorder

We offer a range of Brief Directive Psychotherapy and Psychodynamic Therapy to treat Speech Disorder here at our clinic in Wombourne, Wolverhampton.

In general, a Speech Disorder responds well to Directive Therapy – (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy & the Thrive Programme) – as well as Psychodynamic Therapy – (Psychoanalysis) – so when it comes to deciding the best choice of therapy for your problem, your own personal history will play a central role in helping you to decide.

As a guide, if you have suffered from a Speech Disorder for a significant number of years and on reflection may have experienced the problems since your childhood, then you might be best advised to undertake a course of Psychoanalytic therapy.

Transform Your Thinking & Overcome Speech Disorder

If you’re committed to overcoming your speech disorder problems then we highly recommend following either our Advanced Tranceformental CBT programme with Paul, or Joan.

Tranceformental CBT is available as Online Therapy if required

The Tranceformental programme is a highly successful & pragmatic psychological training course, run over 10 sessions, that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problem, identify how unhelpful thinking and limiting beliefs might be reinforcing the issue, and then show you how to make any changes to your unhelpful thinking styles or maladaptive safety behaviours that you may have developed as part of your coping strategies.

Our Tranceformental CBT programme is an evidence-based, research supported approach used by mental health practitioners around the World.