Building Awareness in Stuttering Therapy. Learning to Catch the Stutter

When I first started working with adults who stutter, one of the biggest things I struggled with was knowing what to focus on in therapy sessions. I understood the theory behind stuttering, but translating that into meaningful activities in the therapy room felt pretty unclear... I would think to myself, why is this so difficult? I know the theory..

One thing I began to notice very quickly when working with adults who stutter was how automatic the stutter could feel for them. Many people had spent years trying to push through it, avoid it, or hide it and that shows up in plenty of ways. Because of that, moments of stuttering could happen very quickly without much awareness of what was actually happening in the speech mechanism.

The more I read about stuttering therapy and the more I practiced clinically, I began to understanding something. How on earth could I help someone with their fluency if they didn't know what was happening in the first place. Before we can work on modifying stuttering or reducing tension during speech, we first need to help the person become aware of what their stutter actually feels like. That is where the idea of catching the stutter becomes so important in therapy.

What Does “Catching the Stutter” Mean

Catching the stutter is often referred to as identification in stuttering therapy. It simply means learning to notice moments of stuttering and becoming aware of what is happening physically during those moments. For many adults who stutter, this is the first time they have really slowed down and explored their speech in this way. Instead of rushing past the moment of stuttering, therapy encourages curiosity about it. This can be uncomfortable for the person who stutters, and it may feel better to push through or try to avoid this step. The sort of questions you would be prompting the person who stutters to ask themselves would be.... 

What did that moment feel like?

Where was the tension?

What happened just before the stutter occurred?

This process of noticing and identifying the stutter can happen before, during, or after the moment itself. The goal is not to eliminate stuttering immediately. The goal is to build awareness. That's because awareness is the foundation for everything that comes next in therapy.

Why Awareness Is So Important in Stuttering Therapy

Many adults who stutter seek therapy because they want to speak more fluently. That goal is completely understandable. However, if therapy jumps straight to fluency techniques without first building awareness, it can be difficult for those strategies to stick.

When someone begins to notice what their stutter feels like physically, they start to gain a sense of control over their speech. They may begin to recognise patterns such as tension in the lips, jaw, or throat. They might notice how their breathing changes, or how certain words trigger more anticipation than others. They might notice they anticipate moreso for certain sounds and so on. 

This awareness creates the opportunity to make changes later in therapy. Without awareness, stuttering can feel unpredictable and uncontrollable. With awareness, the person who stutters begins to understand their own speech patterns and sensations much more clearly. This awareness can feel powerful. Being able to name it is a powerful thing to be able to do. It should hopefully make the stuttering feel 'smaller' or like something that can be 'controlled'. 

Helping Adults Explore What Stuttering Feels Like

This can be a tricker part of therapy, in my experience. One of the most interesting parts of this stage of therapy is helping adults describe the physical sensations of their stutter. Some people notice strong tension in their articulators. Others describe a feeling of being stuck on a sound or unable to release the word.

These experiences are different for everyone, which is why reflection and discussion are such important parts of this stage of therapy. I would really encourage taking the extra time at this stage to reflect and fully delve into what the person is experiencing and noticing in this stage of stuttering therapy. Activities that encourage people to notice repetitions, prolongations, and blocks in a structured way can help make these patterns more visible.

In therapy sessions this might involve listening for moments of stuttering in speech tasks, reflecting on what those moments felt like, or practicing ways of identifying the stutter as it happens. It can be surprisingly powerful for someone to realise that they can actually notice and track their stutter, rather than feeling like it simply happens to them.

When to Introduce Awareness Activities in Therapy

I think that timing is everything with this part of therapy. In my own sessions, awareness activities usually come after some early therapy discussions about stuttering itself and a lot of education on the cognitive, physical manifestations of stuttering etc. Essentially once I am comfortable that the person can understand the iceberg of stuttering, and basically discuss their own iceberg of stuttering quite confidently. Once the adult who stutters has explored the idea of the stuttering iceberg and has started thinking about their experiences with communication, it often feels like a natural next step to begin noticing moments of stuttering more closely.

At this stage therapy starts to shift from simply understanding stuttering to actively exploring it. Instead of trying to avoid the stutter, we begin observing it and importantly, sitting with it, allowing it to happen, allowing it to just be. Instead of rushing through the moment, we pause and reflect on it. We notice what's happening. We name it! 

That shift can be a really important step in the therapy process.

Why I Created My Catching the Stutter Resource

Early in my career I found that the concept of identification made sense in theory, but it was not always easy to structure in therapy sessions. I wanted something that would guide adults step by step as they learned to notice their stutter and reflect on what they were experiencing. That is what led me to create my Catching the Stutter handout, which forms part of my Adult Stuttering Therapy Series.

The resource is designed to guide adults through the identification process by exploring different types of stuttering behaviours and reflecting on what those moments feel like. It includes structured reading activities, reflection prompts, and simple ways for adults to practice noticing stuttering as it happens. The aim is to build awareness gradually so that later stuttering modification strategies feel more meaningful and easier to apply.

A Small Step That Makes a Big Difference

Building awareness might seem like a small step in the overall therapy process, but actually in many ways it is one of the most ( or most, I would argue) important ones. When someone begins to notice and understand their stutter more clearly, the whole therapy process becomes easier to navigate.

Instead of feeling stuck or overwhelmed by their speech, they start to feel curious about it. And curiosity is often where real change begins! If you are working with adults who stutter, feel free to use this blog as inspiration when thinking about how you might introduce awareness activities in therapy. And if you would like a structured way to guide this process, you can also explore my Catching the Stutter handout, part of the Adult Stuttering Therapy Series designed to help clinicians structure meaningful sessions with adults who stutter.