subject: The King's Speech [print this page] The King's Speech The King's Speech
The King's Speech
I guess that it is almost impossible not to have heard about this remarkable film. It goes without saying that I have not chosen the title of this month's news letter to discuss the value of the awards the film has received nor what Queen Elizabeth is known to refer to as the Firm' (as did her grand-father King George V) i.e. the Institution of the British Monarchy, but rather to reflect on the speech impediment of King George VI and the benefits hypnotherapy can bring to others who live with that condition.
According to the British Stammering Association there are 720,000 adults and children in the UK who stammer. Still according to the BSA there is no single answer to the question why do people stutter or stammer nor is there a one single type of stuttering or stammer. Doing some research I came across the page http://neurology.health-cares.net/stuttering-causes.php which suggests that the exact cause for stuttering is unknown; however there are three leading theories that propose how stuttering develops:
Stuttering is a learned behavior
Stuttering is a psychological problem
The cause of stuttering is organic
The article suggests further that all children at the language learning stage are at some point " disfluent i.e. speak rapidly, searching for the right words, etc. []If the child is critised or punished for this it may develop anxiety about this disfluencies, causing increased stuttering and increased anxiety. " If this were to be the case, then, as any learned behavior, it can be un-learned.
Harltand's Medical and Dental Hypnosis (p449) gives some re-assuring evidence how hypnosis can help the client to deal with their stutter and likewise the BSA agrees to the benefits hypnosis can bring to our clients. Desensitization seems to be central in allowing the client to remove the focus of the issue of stammering and the other is to strengthen the ego of the client. The British Stammering Association quite rightly warns not to talk about curing stammering but helping the client to overcome the issues surrounding the condition. I found it both interesting and refreshing to see that their website directs the reader to some of the professional associations of our profession, when there are still so many physicians who do not believe in the benefits of hypnotherapy.
