What Marty Jezer Taught Me About Counseling

by Kristen Van Hage

I recently read the article, What Marty Jezer Taught Me About Counseling People Who Stutter by Lisa Vadnie (Minnesota, USA) and Marty Jezer (deceased). The article was all about Marty Jezer and his opinion as a person who stuttered about the emotional side of stuttering and what he would want from a therapist to help him the most. Ms Vadnie chose special excerpts from Marty Jezer’s book that best highlighted the feelings and emotions that a speech pathologist may need to address during therapy. In his book Mr. Jezer spoke about when he would use avoidance to steer clear of having to stutter when saying a word he thought he might stutter on, or taking a long time to talk to a girl that he had an interest in. Mr. Jezer also believed that his stuttering impacted his ability to get a job. He let his stuttering impact him when getting a job because he limited his possibilities when he thought that the job he had in mind would not be suitable for a person who stutters. He also talked about how he thought that employment agencies did not want to provide him with employment. He made the statement, “ I went through the motions of job hunting with no confidence that I'd ever land a job.” He brought up the feeling of denial that he would tell people that his stuttering did not bother him but after lying he would feel ashamed. Mr. Jezer brought up the feeling of fear. His fear of talking and fear of what a communication partner might think of him. Perhaps the most interesting point that he brought up was that he did not like to voluntarily stutter because he knew who he was when he was stuttering but not when he was trying to stutter.
The article went on to discuss the critical clinical attributes that clinicians should have when working with people who stutter. This article was wonderful because it gave the reader another person’s opinion on the important factors of stuttering therapy. Reading about Marty Jezer’s experience was a great way to see what the client wants when providing therapy for a person who stutters. The article made crystal clear to the reader that there is so much more to fluency therapy than helping an individual to be more fluent. The needs of the client must be first and foremost in the therapy along with attitudes and feelings.
I asked the author, “I was just wondering in your professional opinion which of Mr. Jezer's important clinician attributes is the most important, which is the most helpful for clients?” She has yet to respond to me but the one that I felt was the most important was that the therapy be client centered.