Synergistic Stuttering Therapy: The Counseling Connection

Donna K. Cooperman, and Charleen M. Bloom
The College of Saint Rose, Albany, New York, USA 12203

SUMMARY

The synergistic approach to stuttering treatment combines the techniques of fluency shaping and stuttering modification. In this approach, the elements of normal speech production: articulation, phonation and respiration are described and the client is taught to modify these targets in his or her speech to approximate the patterns of normal speakers. At the same time the client learns to explore attitudes and feelings related to stuttering and to understand and modify the environments in which he or she speaks most frequently. The components of the synergistic approach are Speech-Language, Attitudinal, and Environmental. Each of these components operates in an interactive, interrelated mode. I: is because of this perspective tha: the treatment program is described as holistic. As such, the counseling skills of the clinician are fundamental to the treatment program.
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