The King's Speech

The Kings Speech



King George VI, 1939



The film, The King’s Speech, released on 7 January, is raising awareness of the problems associated with stammering and the impact on individuals and their families.   Colin Firth, who plays King George VI says “… this is common to everyone who struggles with stammering: all you want is to get to the end of a sentence. To speak is your dream, content is often secondary. You'll order fish instead of beef at a restaurant because you can't get the "b" out.” (The Observer, 2 January 2011)

About 5% of children experience some difficulty with their fluency during childhood but most achieve normal fluency with or without help. About 1% continue to stammer into adulthood and the majority of those affected long-term are boys.

Stammering can take many different forms and each person who has a stammer experiences slightly different features.  Causes vary but include physical issues (eg family history, physical development and coordination), speech and language development, personality and childhood environment.

For more information see British Stammering Association www.stammering.org

Cognitive Hypnotherapy

Cognitive Hypnotherapy is complementary to traditional treatments such as speech and language therapy and draws on a range of modern psychological and therapeutic disciplines including Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Positive Psychology.    Cognitive hypnotherapists are happy to work as part of a therapy team.  The therapy can form part of the treatment for stammering by helping sufferers to use and develop their own resources.  Each individual is treated with a programme that is tailored to their needs and this could include

·         Breathing exercises

·         Relaxation techniques

·         Building confidence

·         Alleviating anxiety and stress

·         Increasing self-esteem

If you want to find out more about cognitive hypnotherapy or are interested in working with a hypnotherapist you can find a directory of qualified hypnotherapists at www. questinstitute.co.uk or www.hypnotherapists.org  or by contacting the National Council for Hypnotherapy on 0845 544 0788.

If you live in the Hertfordshire/Cambridgeshire area contact me at http://www.roystonhypnotherapy.co.uk/