Each year the Stuttering Foundation holds professional workshops for speech-language pathologists. Here is some feedback from the Eastern 2012 Class:
 
“I felt more confident in treating people who stutter, especially adults, even though our education was based on treating children; I got so many ideas for treating adults. I cannot describe the happiness and excitement in both, my clients and me, after using Solution Focused Brief Therapy and seeing the improvement after just one session.”
 
“In a nutshell, not a day at work goes by when I don't implement the concepts in one form or another. The “best hopes” questions are now routine.  I feel that my sessions are energized and I have enjoyed seeing better rapport with clients and parents, as well as some very good therapeutic outcomes.”
 
“I have had a number of tutorials and I am pleased to report that students are very enthusiastic about the therapy. Interestingly it has taken more to convince the parents of children who stutter that we are taking a new and better approach. It is so exciting to share parents’ feedback with students. They too see how excited parents are by their improved interaction with their children as well as the positive changes they see in their children’s speech. Last year I applied what I learnt only to my clients but it is fun getting everyone involved.”
 
“I have had the opportunity to implement CBT, solution-focused intervention and the Palin parent-child program. I have found these strategic approaches to be effective, warranting continued application. Having the notes and manuals helped as I worked towards improving my skills with these interventions.”
 
“I was given tools to work with preschoolers emotions without doing deep psychotherapy, what I do not know how to do and I have no right and skills to do.  I also saw that the responsibility for the effects of therapy depend not only on me.”
 
“I am still realizing the lasting impact of what we learned and also how we learned it. I believe that I have used every single thing I learned in Boston in some way. It was absolutely the single most influential professional experience I have had. The information, the strategies, the tools, the collaborative environment, and all of you just made it an amazing process of discovery. I have used Cognitive Behavior Therapy a lot with a variety of patients and with parents. I have a young man who comes in to therapy sometimes now and says ‘I need to draw a cycle and figure out what I'm doing.’ I love that. I taught the cognitive cycle to a student who rotated through our clinic, and he told me that it helped him figure out why he was always anxious going in to tests or evaluations. I have also used Solution Focused Brief Therapy and lines of questioning, although I am not as good at this as I would like to be. I really like using it, and it has helped to excavate some key ‘best hopes,’ but I just need more practice because I know that when I don't get a useful answer it is because I'm not asking the right questions! I used Solution Focused Brief Therapy several times in the last couple of weeks, just trying to set goals for the new year with some of my long time clients, to make sure that we are headed where they most need and want to go.”
 
“In my private practice I have been using the different therapies and strategies we learned in Boston (Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Parent-Child Intervention). I realized that in some way I was already using some of this techniques but now I feel more confident in my practice and I feel that I have grown professionally. Another important change has been to be able to listen more to the parents and allow them to be more in charge of the process in order to find out which are the most important behaviors we need to change.”
 
“I have incorporated it into our clinic and into my fluency courses (taught one last fall and am teaching one now).  Also-presenting some information at our North Dakota Association meeting and have inquired about presenting in MT as well.  I am conducting a Cognitive Behavior Therapy study with our students this semester pending IRB approval.”