I’d been to see Sam a few times before she introduced the idea of a group session. At first I was sceptical, after all I’d been trying to hide my stammer from everyone: family, friends, colleagues etc. so why would I want to be in a situation with people I didn’t know and be open about having a speech problem? Well that turned out to be exactly the point: the opportunity to be in a safe & non-judging environment, where I didn’t have to try to hide it!
The moment I arrived I was happy that I’d had the courage to attend – the session completely exceeded expectations and was actually good fun and a lot of laughs. The other guys were a lot like me, which was the biggest surprise of all. Everyone was open, honest and going through the same things, which made me realise that I wasn’t actually alone in any of this – and that’s really encouraging. We all have varying degrees of stammering and each of us different aspects we struggle with. Listening to everyone’s experiences and how they deal with their speech has definitely helped me overcome some of my obstacles and has made the whole process of speaking that much easier. Being able to share, push the boundaries and experience something new in a group environment is incredibly beneficial and I’d encourage everyone to try it at least once. And of course, did I mention the superb tea, coffee and biscuits that are on offer as well…?
See you at the next Open Space, cheers.
Joe