"Things I learned in Therapy" by Pam Mertz

I chose to read the article, “Things I learned in Therapy”, by Pamela Mertz. I highly recommend this article to everyone in this class as well as other student clinicians and SLP’s. The topics that Pam highlighted in this article are things that clinicians need to keep in mind when working with individuals who stutter. In this article, Pam stresses the importance of the “right” client/clinician relationship. The relationship that we build with our clients will directly impact their progress in therapy and our success as clinicians. We must start out on a good foot and take the time that is necessary to build a bond with our client, before we can even begin to try to tackle the observed behaviors.
As clinicians, we must also be open and accepting of stuttering, as many of our clients will be struggling with this issue as well. As we learn in class, we must have fun with stuttering, get it out in the open, and get rid of that stigma that surrounds subjects that are just not talked about. We also must be willing to stutter ourselves if this is what we will ask of our client. How could we ask them to do something that we would not be willing to try? Our goals must follow the client’s goals. They need to be meaningful to the client in order to increase motivation. Goals should not be based on required clock hours or good data collection. This is a person we are working with and their life is in our hands! We must be open and honest with our clients, as this will help to build a good relationship. If we are inexperienced with an area, we should let the client know and ask for help, as we can learn just as much from the client as they learn from us. Lastly, we must know when and how to push the client to the next level in order for them to feel successful. It is important for the client to feel successful in therapy for them to keep coming back.
I asked Pam if she thought the key points that she learned in therapy applied for the children in the program, as well as adults. She thinks that these things are important for older children, teens, and adults. She added that she is not the “typical fluency client”, who wants to work on strictly fluency. Also, most parents of children who stutter will want to see more structured and goal oriented therapy. When I asked her for some tips to help build a strong relationship between clinician and client, she pointed out that a client clinician relationship should be a mutual give and take, built upon healthy rapport. The clinician should be authentic, attend to client needs, and not focus too much on data collection.
Overall, it was a great article, especially for those of us who will be participating in fluency council. I highly recommend everyone reads it!