Stuttering and Speech Therapy: Why Affirmations and Mind Training Work Together

I was watching a video last night of the great Tony Robbins. I love Tony Robbins—he exemplifies confidence for me, and his story fascinates me. His childhood was not unlike my own. I normally get so much value from watching videos from him, and last night was no exception. He was discussing positive affirmations and auto-suggestions, which form a huge part of the Neuroscience Method of addressing stuttering. I love positive affirmations personally, and I totally accept how helpful they are in resolving all sorts of issues. In fact, stammering and stuttering should be quite an easy issue to address using affirmations. Much worse ailments have been improved through them.

There is a caveat to this, though. For a long time, I believed just saying the affirmations meant they worked. That is not the case. When you say, for example, “I love to speak” over and over again and expect something to happen, this comes from the realm of thought—it won’t work. Because your mind will just say, “You’re lying,” or “You don’t love to speak.”

Remember, thought is what caused your stuttering in the first place.

Think of the hugely misunderstood character Darth Vader from Star Wars: “Your thoughts betray you.” This is extremely true. You need to come from the realm of FEELING AND BELIEF. These are the magic ingredients of affirmations and auto-suggestions and are what make them work. When you say them, you must instill feeling into them. Every time—no exceptions.

It is also a good idea to practice some gratitude before you do your auto-suggestion exercises.

Ask yourself the following questions right before your auto-suggestion work:

• What three things am I most grateful for in my life right now?

• What are my three biggest achievements to date?

• What three things in my life excite me the most?

This will make you feel joyful—and remember, feeling is what we are looking for. When you feel joyful, your auto-suggestions will be much more powerful. Try this today and see how much of a difference it makes for you.

There is an exception I want to note: when you are sleeping, only your conscious mind sleeps; your subconscious mind never sleeps. Recordings of yourself saying your affirmations (preferably in a monotone voice to allow sleep to continue) will be received by your subconscious mind, and it will help a lot.