Stuttering Treatment
Embodiment:
em·bod·i·ment /É™mˈbädÄ“mÉ™nt/ noun. 1. A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.
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Embodied Stuttering Therapy is modern speech therapy for people who stutter by a speech language pathologist who has been through all of the classic speech therapy constructs as a client and understood that there is a much more powerful, efficient, and highly effective way to eliminate all of the baggage and negative aspects of stuttering. I built this approach specifically to support people who stutter to master the art form of becoming who they know deep down in their soul that they are supposed to be.
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This program is a 15-week, immersive, masterclass to help you bridge the gap between where you are to where you know you want to be. People who take this journey love:
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* The attention to detail.
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* The crystal clear vision and mission.
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* The love, support, and challenge built into the program.
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* The holistic nature, the whole body, and the whole human focus of this work.
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* The joy, passion, and enthusiasm they experience from me and within themselves.
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* The practical and methodically chosen practices that target your specific needs and areas for growth.
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* The consistency and momentum that comes with daily accountability checks & access to connect outside of weekly sessions.
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* That this body of work was tried, tested, and applied to me as a person who stutters first, before anyone else.
(I practice what I preach!)
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Let's face it, if you are a person who stutters there is a high probability that if you did not get the proper support early in life your development into becoming a self-actualized person was stifled in some ways.
Most people never get to the place of full self-actualization, and millions are simply trying to make it through the next day to the best of their abilities but they are under-resourced.
Look at all of these current statistics that show a portion of the landscape that we live in as a result:
* The self-development industry in 2022 was valued at approximately 60 billion dollars.
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* North America is currently the largest market for mental health services, with an estimated value of over US$ 154.8 billion in 2022.
* The global antidepressants market grew to $16.44 billion in 2022 and is projected to increase in 2023.
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* Over 40 million adults in the U.S. (19.1%) have an anxiety disorder and recent research has shown a link between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering), with a rate of overlap as high as 75 percent.
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The path to becoming the person you were put on this great earth is full of challenges, resistance, and distractions. Our conditioning, the sum effect of every experience we have had up until this very time, has either shaped us to move closer to, further away from or stuck stagnant at the same distance from becoming this person.
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For many of the 70 million of us, stuttering shapes us in some way, shape, or form.
My experiences shaped me into a young adult who:
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* Felt incapable of fully being me.
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* Questioned if someone would truly love me for me.
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* Anticipated rejection constantly because of my stutter.
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* Expected to struggle to make a good living and have a rich life.
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* Rationalized being a smaller, quieter, and less expressive person.
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* Ignored and suppressed my wants, needs, and desires to focus on others.
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* Settled for other people's visions because I doubted my ability to claim my own.
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* Let fear and shame dictate my thoughts, actions, and subsequently my self-esteem.
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* Believed that I would die without being able to come close to reaching my full potential.
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* Developed many somatic symptoms triggered by my fear and anxiety including:​
Rapid heartbeat and increase in heart rate, constant spikes of adrenaline that left me feeling exhausted, whole body muscle tension and such intense tension in my jaw that I caused dental issues from the pressure on my teeth, gastrointestinal problems, and notable shortness of breath & holding my breath when speaking.
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* The list goes on and on.
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It took me a while to fully understand myself in these ways. I was only taught to try and shape my stuttering through speech therapy tools and to work towards a greater sense of self-acceptance by stuttering openly and meeting more people who stutter. I see the value in these types of efforts and I tried to embrace them for what they are for the better part of 20 years, but in my opinion, they leave a lot left to be desired.
I made it my mission to break down and unlearn these ways of being and build something more aligned with my true potential. I knew I had the potential to become a man who uses his voice, power, strength, creativity, and compassion to love his life and to live it without the ill effects of stuttering that continued to follow me.
Everything that I've learned through my formal education, 10+ years of clinical practice, mentorships, men's work, and independent study set the stage and allows me to continuously become the man that I want and need to be.
This is available for you too and this is what we do in Embodied Stuttering Therapy.
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**** Click below to get started with an introductory email for one-on-one support, OR look at my group program page and online course, THRIVE for alternative ways to work with me. ****
Key Elements of the Journey
EMBODIMENT
The vision, beliefs, capacity, and regulation are ALL required to develop to BE the person and communicator you are here to be. These align to support the creation of the relationships to self, community, love, and purpose you are destined to experience. The embodiment is taking the whole package with you where ever you go regardless of the demands and living life in this way.
LEEN
Client Testimonials
LEEN
When I started looking for support, I was really struggling with my stutter. It has always fluctuated, but it recently increased and became quite intense. I was always angry, embarrassed, unfulfilled, unfocused, overwhelmed, and frustrated, you name it. Even when communicating with my kids, I couldn’t easily express myself, and this used to be relatively easy for me.
I took action, and luckily I found Alexander. He made it super easy for me from the very first session. He’s very understanding, open, caring, and knowledgeable. I knew immediately that I had made the right decision. During this journey, I discovered so much about myself. I had to face a lot of challenges during this process. I realized how much fear I was holding in my body and how inauthentic I was.
Alexander provided me with such clear and confident leadership and accountability that I had no choice but to succeed. I’ve gained so much clarity, courage, and confidence in myself as a person and communicator. I feel I can move forward in life with so much more grace and ease. The transformation is enormous.
Today I’m safe in my body and feel connected to my voice in ways that I didn’t think were possible. I can’t thank you enough, Alexander, for the love, effort, and support that you provided to me.
SAIF
Initially I was very hesitant to begin working with a speech therapist again. I didn't really buy into speech threapy as I had some failed experiences throughout my life. It didn't help that this experience was virtual either and I had my doubts going in. However, when I actually went through with it, it changed me deeply.
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Before working with Alexander, I was scared, tired, and stuttering like I never had before. It was terrible, and I couldn't get a couple of words out without getting stuck and feeling embarrassed and afraid. My friends told me I had been getting worse, but I convinced myself that it was fine. I truly believed it would be OK if I continued to go down my path. In reality, nothing was further from the truth, and my time with Alexander showed me how I had been rationalizing a way of being that was not serving me.
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Through the four months I spent working weekly with Alexander, along with the daily accountability checks, I really got to know myself. I learned how to feel what my body was telling me, something I had never spent too much time considering. I was more in touch with myself than I had ever been.
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Previously, I was stuck in a feedback loop in my mind, rationalizing all my problems away and procrastinating on taking action. I constantly made excuses for why I should do this and shouldn't do that. I was fine with living a life that felt like a
7 out of 10. Not too bad, but not the best either, just "fine." As Alexander says, I was surviving and functioning but not thriving.
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After going through this journey, I can tell anyone, with certainty, that I came out a better man because of it. Before going through Embodied Stuttering Therapy, even the thought of speaking to anyone outside of my comfort zone would have frozen me. Now, I do things that make me feel uncomfortable, anxious, and afraid because I understand myself, my power, and the art of building a stronger nervous system to move toward these things. I am in my body and can combat my mind and all of the excuses it can summon and move forward with action.
All of this was thanks to working with Alexander. It is the best thing a person who stutters can do for themselves. I have gained confidence, clarity, determination, and an excellent friend even though we live in different countries. Thank you, Alexander.
ALYSSA
When I started working with Alexander I was heading into my 35th year of life. I wanted this experience to be the “turning point” for getting past all of the obstacles and barricades I’ve allowed myself to put up and continue to reinforce when it comes to my career, hobbies, and experiences. Stuttering robbed me of my confidence. I thought about it all the time and it kept me from being my true self. I wasn’t really sure who I was underneath it. I wanted to try to truly know myself as a person.
I had felt that I hit a wall in my life because I was letting my speech hold me back and dictate the choices and decisions I make daily. My speech had gotten a lot worse the last few months and was the worst it’s been in a very long time. I found myself talking less at work, becoming hyper-critical of myself, and generally feeling down and unimpressed with who I am.
I wanted to be able to join a meeting, social gathering, or event without immediately thinking about my speech and instead focusing on what I can bring and contribute.
I easily compared myself to others and let it alter my mood. I had been acting like a people pleaser and was building my mood and satisfaction based on how others perceived me.
I continuously fell into a negative mindset and let it consume me to the point where that was the baseline lens I used to perceive my personal and professional life.
My experience with stuttering was full of fear and anticipation because I knew it was only a matter of time before I got stuck. While stuttering, I always felt very tense and wound up. Afterward, I felt embarrassed and wanted to shrink and get as small as possible. I could feel my blood pounding in my ears. When someone reacted poorly (such as making a weird face or looking surprised) it exacerbated how critical I was of myself.
I was embarrassed and angry when I would get stuck during meetings and someone finished my sentence or went ahead speaking as if I were done with what I had to say. Stuttering gave me a lot of social anxiety, especially in groups or settings where I may meet new people. I even had difficulty speaking up with family because of it and regularly hid from interactions with friends and family. I was trying to get promoted at work and advance in my career but I struggled. I knew that my stutter wasn’t holding me back…it was my thinking that my stutter is holding me back and allowing myself to stay silent when I have a lot of great ideas and work to contribute.
I felt I would achieve my vision with this process when I no longer let my speech hold me back personally and professionally.
Working with Alexander was such a unique experience for me. I had been enrolled in several different speech therapy programs over the years and made little progress. During the 15 weeks we worked together, I found so much strength, power, and capability within myself that had been lying dormant. I became much more capable and tolerant of uncomfortable sensations. I developed the ability to regulate myself and find balance in real-life situations. I started doing more, speaking more, and expressing myself more authentically and powerfully. I got a promotion, took on more responsibilities, and made a lot of positive momentum in my personal life. I’ve unlocked a lot of myself that was previously inaccessible to me because of how I had been living for so long.