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Intensive Stuttering Programs

Those seeking speech therapy for stuttering have a variety of treatment options from which to choose. One common model is to attend individual (one-on-one) therapy with a clinician. Sessions typically are scheduled for one hour weekly over a period of time that might range from several weeks to several years depending on the individual’s needs. Some people who stutter attend self-help/support group meetings instead of, or in combination with, their individual therapy. Intensive stuttering therapy provides another option for those wishing to make dramatic change.

Intensive treatment for stuttering describes a therapy model that involves very concentrated treatment delivered over a relatively short span of time. There are several publicized intensive therapy programs for people who stutter including programs for children, some of which are part of a summer camp experience. Many programs incorporate a good deal of group therapy along with individual treatment. Programs are generally run by Speech–Language pathologists along with graduate interns or others who act as assistants to offer one-on-one attention. Settings for programs vary and include university-based clinics and facilities associated with not-for-profit clinics. Some programs have a residential element, offering participants on-site lodging. Others require participants to secure their own lodging or commute to the program daily. This entry describes various approaches to intensive stuttering therapy, programs for children, and the benefits and drawbacks of intensive stuttering programs.

Early Account of Intensive Stuttering Therapy

One of the earliest accounts of intensive stuttering treatment comes from the recorded work of Charles Van Riper. In the late 1930s, he developed a protocol that he termed stuttering modification. Van Riper was a person who stuttered and is often regarded one of the fathers of Speech–Language pathology. He proposed that the majority of the struggling physical movements that accompany stuttering are the body’s attempts to suppress the stutter. Further, he believed that fear of speaking and stuttering greatly contributes to stuttering symptoms. He had his clients complete extensive desensitization exercises to diminish these fears before they learned to actually modify the way they speak.

Van Riper commonly administered stuttering treatment over 6 weeks, with clients working for many hours each week as they progressed through the six therapy components. These components were labeled with the acronym MIDVAS, referring to motivation (establishing reasons for change), identification (becoming more aware of one’s stuttering behaviors), desensitization (reducing fear of stuttering and speaking in general), variation (learning ways to stutter differently), approximation to learn ways of stuttering more easily, and stabilization to help the client make the changes become habitual. Objectives included learning to stutter more easily, reducing physical secondary behaviors that the body develops as ways to push through moments of stuttering, and improving the client’s emotional reactions to stuttering. This approach is still widely used today in individual, group, and intensive therapy programs.

Schools of Thought Regarding Stuttering Treatment

Stuttering therapy approaches differ dramatically with regard to underlying philosophy of treatment. In turn, the focus of the actual treatment practices used in intensive stuttering programs likewise varies greatly. The stuttering literature has traditionally differentiated schools of thought regarding stuttering therapy using the terms fluency shaping and stuttering modification. More recently, the term cognitive restructuring has been used to describe an alternative approach that is based on reframing and modifying negative thoughts about speaking and stuttering rather than working directly to change the way one speaks.

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