How Can I Get Some Help?

You will need a letter of referral from your GP to a local speech and language therapist. They are usually based in health centres or in local hospitals. Some work in mainstream schools too. But your GP will be able to get the information you need. If not, the British Stammering Association keeps a register of the services that are available throughout the UK - they will be able to help you.

If you want to come to a specialist centre, such as the Michael Palin Centre, your GP can also refer you (there is no charge for the assessment). Unfortunately the waiting lists are long, so the quicker you get your name down the better.

It is important to talk to someone about the problem if you can. Your parents, a sympathetic teacher or a friend. Don't be too surprised if they don't know much about stammering, but with their help you will be encouraged to find out more.

Therapy at the Michael Palin Centre

We believe that therapy should be a partnership between the person who stammers and the therapist. Stammering is such an individual problem that any therapy plan must make sense for each person.

It is important to understand what is happening when you stammer (the actual speaking problem), but also all the other factors that influence the stammer - psychological, social and environmental.

Therapy at the Centre may be carried out at individual sessions or as part of an intensive, group therapy programme. Some people start with individual and then elect to attend for the intensive - this is all discussed and agreed jointly.

Whether therapy is offered on an individual basis or as part of a group, the programme will usually include strategies for improving fluency, general social communication skills as well as thinking about some of the more psychological aspects of stammering, particularly understanding the vicious cycle and experimenting with ways of breaking it.