Mastering Blocking & Stuttering Workshop

With John Harrison & Bob Bodenhamer


Charlotte, North Carolina

(Location & Time Subject to Sponsorship of the Training)

How can a person be consistently fluent in one setting and then block consistently in another?

This workshop is designed for anyone who stutters (PWS) and for those interested in learning more about the unique characteristics of this puzzling problem. The workshop will provide tools for gaining insight and mastery over your stuttering and blocking behaviors.

In this training, therapist and neurosemanticist Bob Bodenhamer teams up with John Harrison, a 30-year member and former Associate Director and seminar leader of the National Stuttering Association, to offer a training designed to familiarize you with stuttering from a cognitive and whole system perspective.

You will gain greater knowledge of what triggers blocking as well as what triggers fluency.  This workshop will offer the participant several different Neuro-Semantic (or mind management) tools especially designed to give you more control of your speaking experience.

These therapeutic tools are practical enough to be mastered and used by any SLP working with the stuttering community.

John will be presenting the first two days as well as teaching and leading the optional evening sessions. Bob will present days three to five.

Section I – John Harrison –

The first two days including each evening with John Harrison:

I.     Survey the audience

A.  Why are you attending?

B.  What questions would you like answered?

II.    Overview of the seminar

A.  Why stuttering hasn't been "solved"

B.  Look at models and paradigms

C.  Describe the stuttering system

D.  Explore the hexagon

III.   Why has the problem been so elusive?

A.  Solving the wrong problem

IV.    The Necessity of Switching Paradigms

A.  Definitions

1.  A model

2.  A paradigm is a way of looking at things that tells us what's important...and what's not important. 

B.  What is the traditional paradigm for speech pathology?

1.  Early history

2.  Can't explain stuttering?  It must be genetic is an example of trying to explain stuttering and failing.

V.    A New Paradigm for Treating Stuttering – “The Stuttering Hexagon”

VI.   Limitations of language

A.   Five varieties of stuttering

1.  Pathological dysfluency

2.  Developmental dysfluency

3.  Blocking

4.  Bobulating

5.  Stalling

VII.  Need to make a “PARADIGM SHIFT” in Stuttering Treatment

A.  The old paradigm

1.  Common paradigms used to describe stuttering?

a.  Genetic

b.  Psychological

c.  Behavioral

B.  But the paradigm that does explain it is the Stammering Hexagon.

PART 1: Understanding the system

I.     An Explanation of the “Hawthorne Effect” – Stuttering is a “System” and treatment must address this system.

II.    PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS

A.    What happens when the person has to speak?

B.   The amygdale’s role in stuttering – When it sounds an alarm of, say, fear, it sends urgent messages to every major part of the brain. 

1.      Fight-or-flight hormones

2.      Activates the cardiovascular system

3.      Triggers the hormone norepinephrine to heighten the reactivity of key brain areas. 

4.      Freezes unrelated movements the muscles had underway

5.      Speeds heart rate and raise blood pressure, slows breathing. 

6.      Rivets attention on the source of the fear, and prepares the muscles to react.

7.      Your body acts like you're going to die unless you do something about it!!!

III.   The Engram – Why are speech blocks so unpredictable?

IV.   The Impact ofBELIEFS” on our world of behavior and speech

A.  The power of beliefs

B.  Beliefs set up our view of the world

1.  How am I supposed to be?

2.  How am I supposed to act?

3.  What is appropriate behavior?

4.  What do I have permission to do?

5.  What can't I do because I stutter?

6.  I'll always be a stutterer

C.  Valsalva maneuver

1.  You have to push harder

a.  First scenario that explains a block

2.  VALSALVA DEMO: tuning the muscles

a.  See how fast you can tighten your muscles.

b.  "Tight!"

c.  "Grab!"

D.   Beliefs are not just about my speech but about myself as a person

E.   QUESTION: Where do these beliefs come from?

V.    PERCEPTIONS and Stuttering

VI.    EMOTIONS and Stuttering

VII.   INTENTIONS and Stuttering

A.   "It’s not the actual pain that drives us, but our fear that something will lead to pain.  We’re not driven by the reality but by our perception of reality.”

B.   Approach/avoidance – Blocking - the key to chronic stuttering

VIII.    PHYSICAL BEHAVIORS

PART 2: Changing the Hexagon – The “System” of Stuttering

John will be leading the participants through several exercises specifically designed to make changes on every point of the PWS’ Hexagon:

I.     Perceptions

II.    BELIEFS

III.   Emotions

IV.          PHYSICAL Behaviors

V.         Intentions

VI.      behaviors

 

VII.  Addressing the last 10% -- what has to change? – The default setting that has to change

VIII. You will learn “The Five Steps in Making Stammering Disappear”

a.   Denial -- "I am not a stutterer."

b.   Acceptance -- "I am a stutterer."

c.   Redefinition-- "I am a recovering stutterer."

d.   Disappearing --"I no longer look at what I do as a single problem called "stuttering" because I've broken down the problem into its components."

e.   Reprogramming --"In stressful situations involving speech, I now automatically default to different behaviors."

IX.    Enjoy getting out of your if your comfort zone?

Changing the Hexagon – Dealing with discomfort

X.    Seriously begin the process of what must change in order for you to speak more freely – “Changing what you believe”

A.  You need to become a good observer

B.  A major objective is self awareness

1.  What is your self-image

a.  Who are you?

b.  What do you want?

c.  What do you stand for?

XI.   Changing beliefs

A.  Suppose you didn't always have to please others

XII.  The role of environment in the stuttering system

A.   What relationships stop you from being a different you?

XIII. Be patient – “Changing a system takes time.

XLI. Concluding thoughts

A.  You cannot understand the blocking and struggle behaviors except within the context of the person's entire personality

B.  The body/mind works at lightning speed – 1/3000th of a second

C.  Intentions are key.

1.  If your intention is to stay where you are, you will stay where you are.  The world has a funny way of giving you what you want.

D.  Talk about performance fears and the way the body can work against itself

E.  Inside every inhibited soul is a real and vital person wanting to get out.  This is the conflict behind a speech block.

F.  The block is a reaction to the environment.  The struggle behavior is a reaction to the block.

G.  It doesn't take as much effort to preserve a belief as it does to change it. 

1.  The new system has to establish itself and become self-reinforcing

H.  People want to disappear the problem without giving up the context in which the behavior plays an integral part.

1.  It is the context that has to change

I.   To build self-esteem, you have to start by keeping your agreements

J.   It's not the same path for everybody

K.  You have to be willing to give up control

L.  It's easier to let go and speak when you're clear about who you are and what you want to say

M.  Remember that change takes time.

N.  A tree grows in a way that best assures its survival (ie: it grows toward the light.)  The same is true of people. 

1.  We move in a direction that promises to assure our survival.

O.  It is when you're at your most vulnerable that the biggest changes can take place.

P.  You cannot find out "what if" until you "act as if."

Q.  Just because you can't see the pattern doesn't mean that there isn't a pattern.

1.  "Hidden rules govern seemingly unpredictable complex dynamical systems

Section II – Bob Bodenhamer – Changing Higher Level Meanings That Drive Blocking

On the third day of the workshop, I will pick up where John left off.  In utilizing the tools of Neuro-Linguistics and Neuro-Semantics we shall “chunk down” on John’s Hexagon. In going for the details of cognition (thinking), we will be chunking down (specifics) and discovering just “how” the brain creates Perceptions, BELIEFS, Emotions, Intentions, and HOW these cognitions interact with our physiology to produce our states of being.

And, importantly, it is our mental states that drive our behaviors including the behaviors of speaking freely and fluently or the behaviors that triggers blocking and stuttering.  Now, how does the mind-body know to operate from the frames of mind contained in John’s brilliant Hexagon?  I (BB) am convinced after working for five years with PWS and writing a book on the subject, that it is the “MEANING” given by the PWS to specific contexts that determine whether the PWS will trigger his/her blocking strategy for speaking or whether or not they will trigger their fluency strategy for speaking.

It is all about the meaning placed on the context:

Most PWS speak fluently in certain contexts. If you are one of these, then this workshop is for you. The operative word for my presentation is wrapped up in one word – “Meaning”.  We will look at "Meaning" and how the brain constructs it, i.e., utilizing the mental movies that we create in our minds and how we language our movies providing the meanings necessary in determining whether we block or not.

Emphasis will be placed on how "meaning" is fluid and changeable. When we change meaning we call that “reframing”. Information will be given on just how our concepts of "self", "resourcefulness", etc are created via "meaning". All of this will tie into John’s Hexagon.  

Of great importance will be taking the above information and explaining how we layer our mind with meanings on top of meanings.  We just continually have “thoughts about thoughts” layering our minds with meanings ad infinitum. To understand what is meant here, just think about all the meaning statements that you give yourself about blocking. This layering of our minds  with meanings work together in creating dynamic states be those states for our good (speaking fluently) or for our ill (blocking).  Have you ever said to yourself something like the following?

1.              I got to speak to my boss.

2.              There is no way I can get out of this.

3.              Speaking to him makes me nervous.

4.              I am afraid that I will block.

5.              It seems that every time I am in front of him, I block.

6.              That is why I avoid him as much as possible.

7.              But, this time there is no avoiding.

8.              I got to make an appointment with him.

9.              I will block.

10.          I always do.

11.          I know I will block.

12.          I can’t hide it from him.

13.          I get so nervous.

14.          There are no substitute words for some of the things we will be talking about.

15.          For sure, I will block.

16.          He will think that something is wrong with me.

17.          There is something wrong with me.

18.          I can’t do what nearly everybody does without even thinking about it – I can’t even talk.

19.          I am different.

20.          I not only speak wrong “I am wrong!”

21.          I am stupid just like dad always told me.

22.          I’d rather die than go into that office.

23.          Death right now would be a welcomed thing.

24.          I am so scared; so afraid.

Does any of that sound familiar?  As we layer our minds thusly, each thought that we go get to apply to another thought multiplies that thought and hence the state of mind produced by that kind of thinking. When we apply a belief such as “I am wrong” to another belief such as “I am stupid.” the second belief will empower and strengthen the first belief because they are of similar content and state.

However, this also works for our good. Applying positive thoughts on top of one another creates a more powerful feeling positive. And, this works as we apply a resource (positive) state of mind to a negative state of mind.  For instance, what happens to “fear of blocking” when you apply a very strong belief-state of “courage and/or faith”? Courage applied to fear diminishes the fear and can even disappear it. Likewise, “faith” applied to “fear” does the same thing. At this workshop you will learn the fundamentals of doing this process that we call “Meta-Stating”.  The word “meta” means “over” or above. So, we are applying one state over the top of another state and this will lead to change.

Now, I know you will be coming to this workshop with the sole aim of learning how to work on avoiding blocking and gaining more freedom of expression. In order to do that, I will be sharing some Patterns or Exercises that will help you as you travel your road to more fluency.  Some of the patterns I hope to cover are (Time will limit how many we cover though we will cover as many as possible.):

1.  How we create “meaning” –

Our brains process at a very primary level from the images we have inside our head. Our images are composed of pictures, sounds, feelings, smells and taste. It is from these primal experiences that we re-present on the screen of our minds our experiences. What we see, we re-present with pictures. What we hear we re-present with sounds, etc.  Now, inside these pictures, sounds and feelings are smaller qualities. Is the picture you are seeing in color or is it black and white?  Is the picture a movie or is it a still photograph?  Is it panoramic or is it framed like a small picture? Etc. Likewise, are the sounds you are hearing loud sounds or soft sounds?  Is that feeling when you block a heavy feeling or a light feeling?  These smaller qualities of our images exist "inside" the larger pictures, sounds and feelings. We shall review about these qualities. You will learn how to "edit" your own movies.

2.  How to step in and out of states –

Gaining fluency is all about "state control." You have a certain state of mind when you speak fluently and you have a certain state of mind when you block.  You will be practicing through several exercises about how to switch from one state to another at will.

3.  State Accessing and Anchoring –

In NLP we call a trigger an "anchor." How do you know when to block?  That internal or external event that causes you to access a block is a "trigger" or an "anchor."  We will practice accessing and anchoring in a resource state for fluency.

4.  Meta-Yes/ NO Pattern –

We distinguish a mere "thought" from a "belief" in terms of logical levels. We can "think" and even fully "understand" lots of things that we don't believe. When we believe, we move up a level and confirm or validated the thoughts in some way. By so validating a thought, we say "Yes" to it. When we say "No" to it, we dis-validate it and reduce it from a belief to a mere thought. Since limiting beliefs get in the way and define therapeutic dysfunction, the ability to quickly and even conversationally transform beliefs gives a therapist a very powerful therapeutic intervention.

3. Foreground/ Background - Editing one's own movies 

As the Drop Down Through pattern goes “down” for resources, the Foregrounding Resources pattern goes “back” to those resources in the “back of your mind.” They are “back there.” This pattern will assist you in discovering them and bringing them to the “foreground” of your mind where you can “see” them. What would happen if you placed stuttering into the background of your mind and fluency into the foreground of your mind?  By learning to foreground the content of what you are saying and backgrounding "how" you say it, you will be well on your way to fluency.

4. Association/ Dissociation - Editing one's own movies

These two simple neurological processes determine so much about our state. To understand the difference and to know how to associate "inside" a frame of mind and to be able to "step outside" or dissociate from a frame of mind to another frame of mind is essential to state control.  When we "associate" into a state we are inside that state and we are looking through our eyes. When we "dissociate" from a state we "step outside" that state and we can see ourselves.  But, when we "step outside" a state we are always "inside" another state for we cannot not be inside some state of mind. 

5. Perceptual Positions –

The realization that we humans operate from five basic ways of looking at experience offers tremendous potential in state control and in the enhancing of our communication. Essential to state control and accessing valuable feedback, these five perceptual positions are invaluable to gaining fluency. These positions are: 1st Position - position of "self," 2nd Position - the "other" position, 3rd Position - position of objectivity, 4th Position - the position of the system or organization and 5th Position - the universal or "God" position (the position of fluency for many PWS).

7. Drop Down Through Pattern –

This pattern evokes those frames of mind that cause the blocking/stuttering. It moves the person on down to the level where there is no meaning and on out to higher frames of references that provide those resourceful frames for meta-stating away the problems of fear and anxiety. At least this pattern will tame the frames so that they are no longer a problem. This is the single most effective pattern that has proven most effective in leading PWS to fluency. We will spend necessary time on this pattern.

8.  Reviewing the "Power Zone" Pattern –

First introduced in Chapter 4, this critical model enables us to own and to take responsibility for our own powers of thinking, feeling, speaking and behaving.  Now, by presupposition, when we own our own powers, we should give other people the right to "own" their own powers without our mind-reading their judgment of how they may or may not think-feel about how we speak. Hence, I have added a step to Michael's original pattern for leading one to not only claim one's four powers of thinking, feeling, speaking and behaving but of also "pushing" out of one's life the allowing of others to control your power zone.

9.  Responsibility To / For –

Here we want to develop an understanding of the difference between being responsible "to" someone and being responsible "for" someone.  PWS tend to believe that they are responsible "for" the other person's embarrassment, judgment, etc. that they may or may not make concerning the PWS blocking/stuttering. As decent human beings we are all responsible "to" other people we come in contact with. We are responsible "to" them as to how we behave towards them but we are not responsible for them as they must own their own power zone.

Enrolment Information:

Location:

(Specific place forthcoming)

Investment:

Direct your payment to Bob Bodenhamer

I (BB) accept:

Mail checks or money orders to my address below.

Make checks or money orders out to Bob Bodenhamer or NLP of Gastonia (doesn’t matter).

Contacts:

John Harrison
3748 22nd St
San Francisco
, CA 94114
415.647.4700

Johnnyh567@aol.com

Bobby G Bodenhamer, D.Min.
1516 Cecelia Dr.
Gastonia
, NC 28054
704.864.3585
Fax: 704.864.1545

bobbybodenhamer@yahoo.com

View the flyer created for the Atlanta NSA Annual Session.


©2007 John Harrison & Bob Bodenhamer All rights reserved.