Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures: What 1000+ Stutterers Taught Me

Lee's book has been incredibly helpful! I have been stuttering mildly for the past 24 years, tried different therapists and read different books without much success and Lee's book helped me make my first stutter-free public presentation two weeks ago! Presentations from me are usually disasters but this time was different and two persons from the audience talked to me after the presentation to tell me it was the best talk they heard this year. I could not believe it, I was so happy. So what's so special about Lee's methods? Lee does not believe in controlling our speech, which was what most of methods suggest. Lee believes in creating fluency memories so that our brain can get used to speaking instantaneously, which means without planning words. Lee believes that we should think about the ideas and not the words we want to say, just like we think about where we want to go and not about which leg we will move next. Once we no longer plan words but just let a brain full of fluency memories speak, it is way easier to speak fluently. How can we create fluency memories? The main way is reading aloud 1 hour every day and other techniques such as auto-suggestions and self-hypnosis also help. Another important advice during the transition from stutterer to self-cured is to reduce the stuttering memories. To do so, Lee suggests twelve techniques (called crutches) to avoid stuttering on feared words. One technique is voice modulation and another technique is skipping the first letter of the next feared word. This helps reducing stuttering memories until we hopefully become self-cured. After finishing the book, I was impressed by its content and I decided to write to Lee. He replied and offered to Skype with me. I had two Skype sessions with him and his energy, help and advice have been incredible. He is incredibly motivated to help stutterers self-cure and is doing it for free! He helped dozens of stutterers self-cured and if you stutter, reading this book and practicing Lee's methods every day for at least a few months is probably the best gift you can offer yourself. I have started Lee's methods last month and I am not 100% self-cured but I regularly have stutter-free conversations and everyone noticed that my speech has greatly improved. I am still working on it and hope to become self-cured in a few months.

Many PWS (Person Who Stutters) are often perplexed by the concept: Why can I speak fluently in certain situations, yet stutter in others? Why is it when I'm alone, talking to an animal, or even angry, I can speak just fine, but have trouble saying simple words in front of others? Lovett's book, from the perspective of an actual ex-stutterer, is the result of experimenting for several years to prove that if you can speak fluently once, you can speak fluently anytime and anywhere. I've been a PWS for well over 30 years. Half the time I've experienced semi fluent speech, the other half I've faced blocks so severe that they've almost felt like seizures. I could talk to certain people with little effort, yet completely freeze with others. I have tried classic speech therapy (Camperdown, Easy Onset), effective in a clinical setting under the attention of a caring therapist, but not much in the outside world. I've tried every potential drug treatment plan, from light vitamin and mineral supplementation, to potent prescription medication ranging from Zyprexa, Xanax, . The best they've done is reduce the amount of thoughts I have and temporarily forget about mechanics of speech, which indirectly reduced my stutter, but not effective in removing blocks that inevitably appeared. After the entire experience, I have come to the conclusion that stuttering is a particular method of speech that I've trained myself to perform over the years. Like learning to master any ability like playing golf or the violin, I've reinforced a labor intensive method of speaking and got very good at it through lots of practice, developing muscle memory, and negative visualization. Perhaps one time I jerked my head back and forth so hard and it somehow resulted in successfully get a word out. I then subconsciously suggested to myself that a violent head bob was one way to produce speech, and refined my method even further. I ended up learning and mastering two completely different ways of speaking - an effortless, fluent version that I practice when alone that has a sliver of chance to qualify for a leading role in Hamlet, and a strange, physical, jerky, and anxiety inducing version when talking to another person. With the first technique, I mostly focus on the message, and focus on a myriad of random physical methods to generate sounds on the latter. The book's basic premise is the brain can't focus on more than one thing at a time. You can either think hard on how you will generate the next stutter (manifest a body jerk, close eyes, etc.), or focus on the message itself. If you choose to focus on the message, there is no thought power left to produce a stutter, and the words automatically follow. The book's core theme is to cure this habit of focusing on the wrong thing, by mastering of handful of methods to erase memories of unusual methods of speech production (i.e. stuttering) and replace them with positive ones (i.e. speaking normally). This eventually leads one to 'forget' to stutter when speaking, and learn to naturally focus on the message, with speech following automatically. The more memories of stuttering that are replaced with memories of fluent speaking, the better the ratio of fluent vs stuttering moments. I won't detail the methods here, but highly encourage reading them in the book in context, and putting them into practice. If you're curious before reading, the table of contents provides a sufficient preview. The methods can be practiced independently, and all follow reasonable logic or derived from proven concepts in psychology. Can this book cure you of stuttering? For me, it has provided the most immediate relief I've seen from any other form of therapy, whether drug induced, self-taught, or through a therapist. It is a collection of concepts that I believe in, since it repeats the concepts and patterns I've discovered on my own at some point during the recovery journey. Each time I use and repeat the concepts, I see visible enough improvement to keep going. The author states his goal was never to be 'fully cured', if that's even possible, but to become undetectable enough to live a worry-free life. Is there a chance of relapse? Absolutely. As a PWS, we've all practiced and refined the rather unproductive art of stuttering throughout many years, and need to accept that we will not forget this habit completely. The treatment requires daily application of replacing these poor habits and memories with positive ones. If you choose to let bad memories and techniques overtake the good ones, the progress dial starts to go backwards to relapse mode. If you continue replacing the habits and memories with good ones, progress dies moves towards fluency. Fortunately it's a slow process - the dial will not jump into complete relapse of fluency overnight. However, it is your choice to work on moving the dial in the desired direction. The author states the dial is now at 98% fluency, and since perfection is never expected, he's quite happy with the 2% lingering around. That 2% (Satan Stuttering as he affectionately calls it) will always linger around, and it's your job to keep it at bay. I highly encourage any PWS to read this book. In my opinion, of any resource I've read, it comes closes to explaining the root cause of stuttering and how to address it via the approach of self-administered cures.

This review applies to all three Editions, but especially to the 3rd Edition, which I have studied and found to be by far the best Edition. As a person who has stuttered since three years old, I urge all to read Lee G. Lovett’s book. I want to share my story. Though my experience, I hope more people who stutter will read the book, train their mind, and change their lives. I can’t remember when I didn’t stutter. My parents told me that I ‘learned’ it from a boy older than me when I was three years old. Now, I have forgotten the kid’s name and appearance, but I can remember the pain this problem gave me. Several years ago, I dated a girl and then she refused me because of my stuttering. When I worked in Shanghai, China, I was a team leader. I needed to report to my bosses at a monthly meeting. If I was lucky enough, I could give an okay presentation. However, mostly, it’s been a nightmare for me. In August 2014, I moved to upstate, New York, for my master degree in electrical engineering. Three months later, with enormous pressure in a foreign country, I found I couldn’t talk at all. After communicating with several American friends, I went to a local hospital for speech therapy. It was November 2014. My speech therapist told me some methods to try myself and to relax me during talking. It helped but can’t solve most of my problems. Because my speech therapist speeches well, she couldn’t fully know my feeling. So she can’t give me a hand to get rid of my stuttering. By May 2016, my speech was still terrible, and I was grimacing badly when I spoke. I was desperate and began to search for books through Amazon. I found Lee’s book. Lee is a fantastic person. After he received my email, Lee urged me to read the book as soon as possible and offered free video talk after this. In the book, Lee provides several methods to stop stutters during talking. In the last two chapters, the most critical part of the book, he introduces auto-suggestion and self-hypnosis as root methods to defeat stutter. When I read the book, I could feel that Lee knows every detail of stutter. After reading the book, I thought I was equipped with super weapons to fight my stuttering. Through video talks with him, and with his book, by late 2016, I was able to stop stuttering and making bad faces when I speak. For the first time in my life, when I speak, people don’t think that I stutter. Now, more and more times, I can feel that I’m relaxed and comfortable when I speak with others. I can feel my progress every day. It has now been almost two and a half years since I stopped stuttering. I have not relapsed. Only a person who used to stutter can help people who stutter. Friends, if you are struggling with stuttering, Lee’s book is no doubt the book you need. He used to have serve stuttering and now as he said, he is 99% stuttering free. However, from my eyes, he is stutter free. Please allow yourself to change your speech and your life forever. If I can do this, YOU also CAN do this. Get Lee’s book and talk with him now, as he may not be able to do this forever.

I’m Zak, at the age of five I had a speech disability. For eight years I stuttered. Nothing ever helped me overcome stuttering. I was told to live with it. Little really helped, I was told to elongate my words. Nothing helped me speak like a normal person. I’m thirteen now, stuttering has taken over my life. Last summer, my father bought me Lee’s third edition of his Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures. This book is the reason why I am going to overcome stuttering. It is chock full of useful information, it’s just that I had to be committed to stop stuttering. After I read the book my father came in contact with Lee Lovett, the author of Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures. Lee told me to go to SAA and SAC. I watched all of the lesson videos there. I learned about the crutches and mind training. There were thirteen crutches, all helping me speak like a normal person. But, I had to be committed to beating stuttering if the crutches were going to work. At the beginning of this summer, I began Skyping with Lee. As of the time of writing this I am still Skyping with Lee. Lee talked about how stuttering is a bad habit, and habits can be unlearned. He told me how you need to hear fluency and not disfluency to beat stuttering. I am very glad I did Skyping with Lee. Lee also talked about life lessons and mind training. Lee is such an amazing person, for him to spend a good chunk of his life helping hundreds of people beat stuttering is incredible. And to think I get the chance to be taught by such a great guy. Even with one month (as the time of writing this) of Skypes with Lee I’ve seen a huge improvement. Being in control of your thoughts and accepting that everything you do comes from deliberate choices. In Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures Lee talks about “crutches”. Crutches are little ways to help prevent stuttering. For example crutch seven is to whisper or crutch one, skip the first letter or syllable. Also reading aloud in section 4.5. Reading aloud with enthusiasm helps beat stuttering. I read three hours aloud everyday over the summer break. Lee talks about mind training or affirmations. Every morning and night I repeat a set of affirmations twenty times each. At the end of any lesson on SAC Lee says one thing: “If I can say one word anywhere any time, then I can say any word anywhere any time”. The book is excellent in giving us a roadmap to stop stuttering for the long term, with most likely no relapse, which is important to beating the habit of stuttering. The book explains that stuttering is an unconscious choice we make, and that it is our choice to stop stuttering, if we put enough effort into beating it. All you need is to be committed to stop the habit of stuttering. You need to have persistence to beat it. I have a very long way to go on my path of freedom from the habit, I have everything I need to beat it. I’m confident I have the tools to become a PWSS - people who stopped stuttered.

This book is a must-have for anyone dealing with stuttering. I am 33, and have stuttered my whole life. I am on the more 'mild' end of stuttering, dealing with blocks on certain words (usually nouns, especially my own name), but even a mild stutter can have huge implications, like the inability to say my name when asked (or when making a phone call), or having to insert tons of 'ahs' and 'ums' into conversations, especially in high-pressure situations I read the book, and have had a couple Skype sessions with the author (which he offers for free), and have already seen significant improvements. A few months prior to reading this book, I met with a speech therapist ($150 per session), and although he was knowledgeable and helpful, after a few sessions, it felt like there was just nothing more to discuss, as no cure would be available. Alternatively, the author has methods, both direct and indirect, that are outside of anything i ever learned from a speech therapist. After just my second Skype with Lee, i happened to be out ordering food, and i overheard from the person in front of me that the cashier was asking for names for the food order. Previously, this was one of my most feared situations, and i would often get around it by saying someone else's name instead of my own, or possibly saying my name before the cashier asked, if i could manage to say it. On this occasion, i calmly waited for the cashier to ask my name, and i was able to say it with ZERO issue. I not only was able to say it, but i was calm and confident in my ability to say my name prior to being asked. Seems like a small thing, but i can't remember the last time (possibly because there wasn't a last time) when i was able to do this. This type of progress is extremely significant, given the fact that for DECADES of my life prior to this book, I made no progress whatsoever. The approaches in this book are not simply to combat stuttering, but to heal the whole person, in a sense. To work methods and build the mental confidence that you CAN say whatever you want whenever you want, and to get to where you enjoy speaking, enjoy saying your name, etc. I have made significant progress in my fluency and gained a significant level of confidence in a short period of time. If you stutter, buy the book, read the stories on speech anxiety anonymous website (founded by the author), and begin working towards fluency.

I have struggled with a stutter most of my life, since I was about 10. I craved for the days when I did not stutter, or better put, did not FEAR stuttering. As you have so correctly pointed out in your beautifully written book, is that we do not stutter because we stutter, we stutter because we have a FEAR of stuttering. I started seeing a speech therapist. I wish I had known then what I knew now. It would have saved me at least 5 years of pain. That is, that stuttering can be cured. While I love and adore my ex-speech therapist (I no longer see her as I believe there is no longer a need), some of the teachings I believe were incorrect. For example, she taught me never to substitute words, and to "bounce" out of words- in essence, stutter out of hard words. I knew in my heart this is not what I wanted, nor should I have to accept that I would never be an undetectable stutterer. Why could I speak fluently to myself, to people I trusted, and in certain situations, and speak with a stutter in other situations. I made much progress under her wing, however I was never truly "cured" of my stutter. It's strange, most of the concepts you deal with in your book I already started doing on my own. I could not stop clapping or giggling when I read about the fact that you would leave out certain letters and syllables not to stutter. This is exactly what I would do to get out of sticky situations. I think I just needed somebody to tell me that it was okay to do same, and not "bounce" out of the word. I love the fact that you have explained all these weird and wonderful ways to create a memory bank full of positive images, and further, that you have told me that it's okay to substitute words, whisper, speak like an actor, and entertain. I have a flair for the dramatics, and speaking with an accent, ranging my tone, laughing at myself is what I am all about. I hardly ever stutter anymore, not even in interviews. Some times on specific words I will still stutter, some times on the phone too. But to anyone who cares to listen, I am an undetectable "stutterer". I am starting to practice your techniques everyday and I believe that in one year I will be fully cured of my stutter. I wish I had found your book 17 years ago. I have been changed forever.

It is absolutely, incredibly generous of Mr. Lovett to have devoted so much of his life to helping people like us who stutter! Writing such a book, coaching stutterers on Skype, and managing a website/program takes so much time and work, and he does it out of true love and concern for people like us who deal with this speech impediment. May God bless him!

To all stutterers who are reading this review, GET THIS BOOK. It is the only way to beat 'demon stuttering', as Lee calls it. I have been stuttering heavily my whole life and have had multiple speech therapies, medicinal treatments, psychiatric drugs; every thing seemed to work for a short time and the relapse was always much more severe than before. It is normal to lose hope after years and years of disappointment with "promising" treatments. I am a medical student who has been observing my stutter from all possible angles in the past couple of years, because I refused to let my life be directed by this menace. I kept a journal recording every interaction, recorded conversations and scrutinized them as much as i could. This helped me debunk so many myths about stuttering and made it clear why all therapies fail; because no one who comes up with these treatments and therapies has actually stuttered themselves and has not experienced it first-hand. It is absolutely impossible to understand stuttering without being a victim. Even though I was learning about it, there were some loopholes in my new, unconventional theories which I found difficult to justify or explain, but I knew I was close. I realized that my own experience, of one person who stutters, is not enough to draw conclusions and find the missing links that were eluding me. I searched for "experiences of people who stutter". Voila, "what 100+ PWS taught me". Of course, I wasn't going to go for this if it had any other name, because I believed that it, like all others, wont tackle the real problem. As I started reading, I realized that this is another therapy book, but I kept reading because everything Lee was trying to say matched extremely closely to my own observations. Everything made sense. The loopholes, all explained and taken care of. It perfectly summed up what I was trying to do on my own. It filled my heart with joy because I had finally found a book that KNOWS what the problem is. The methods made sense, the experiences made sense, everything was interlinked. I am sharing my own experience with stuttering and my ways to learn more about it to emphasize that I was reaching the same conclusions (although heavily lacking) as Lee has, even before reading this book. If you record your interactions and scrutinize and observe them, it will be clear to you that the theories mentioned here-in are indeed true. It 'clicks' even to those people who stutter but have not yet seriously tried to unscramble the stuttering enigma. Still not sure? Give this book a read and be honest with yourselves. Still unsure? Talk about it with Lee. It's free. What do you have to lose in this war against demon stutter? I finished the books and emailed Lee. He replied within a couple of days and he was more excited than I was to help me self cure. THAT is the level of determination and, I would say, magnanimity of Lee Lovett. He really cares that all stutterers beat demon stuttering. He is on a never ending war with it. In 3 weeks, I have had astounding improvements. The time needed varies from person to person and is based on one's level of commitment and belief in these methods. There was no doubt in my mind because the theories match my experiences. Not just mine, but everybody's, I am sure. Take the first step. I share Lee's sentiments about going on war with dysfluency because of the suffering it has made me endure. Read this book, give it some thought and time, and you WILL self cure. WE will self cure together.

As of this writing, Lee’s book has 69 Five Star Reviews in the U.S. It is a Wonderful book written by an ex PWS. I am 35 years old and I have stuttered most of my life , I have even gone through many types of therapies (none has really helped!) until I came across Lee’s book . This is really the book that changed the way I approach stuttering and this is changing my life . If you are a PWS you should buy this book NOW ! Thank you so much Lee , I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life !

I was as sceptical as many before buying this book, having gone through every kind of therapy under the sun to try rid myself of a life-long stutter, but I have to say it's a game-changer! It's not just a standard self-help book, but a collection of stories, in-depth exploration of the different types of stutter, techniques, and exercises to help you understand what's causing YOUR stutter, which really is the first key to unlocking it. The book is by no means a quick or easy read - you have put the time in and the "crutches" as the author, Lee, calls them, into 24/7 practise or else you won't succeed. On it's own the book is a good first step and eye opener into this new approach to talking, but to really benefit from the changes Lee also offers 121 video coaching (he lists his email address several times throughout the book, actively encouraging you to get in touch). He offers his time willingly to help all PWS and I really thank him for getting me on this path to fluency. To the reviewers who say the crutches don't work or just make you sound odd - is it really any odder than stuttering..?? The one thing that needs to be stressed more in the book (which Lee does continually say during coaching) is that the crutches are there to help you get rid of the habit of stuttering. In time, you won't even think about it or what crutch you are using - it'll just become your natural speech and sound entirely normal. Give it a go - what have you got to lose? *** I don't however recommend the Audible version of this book - buy the physical copy! The Audible version is outdated. This 3rd edition is much more comprehensive, and being a paperback allows you to make notes and mark pages to keep referring to later, which is essential for mastering the crutches and gaining true fluent speech. ***

Hi Everyone I am myself an Ex-stutterer and I cured myself with few months of practice and this june 2020 I became a person who stopped stuttering. I understand that this stuttering problem can make living each day of life like a hell. If not addressed properly it can become a roadblock to ones success. Most of the times things gets overwhelming for us & during which we may get depressed & question our worth "is that all I deserve?". A Person who stutters has to compromise on lots of opportunities which is quite frustating. But Hey folks, Dont you ever worry as its not the end of the world! "Where there is a will there is a way" as goes the saying, & Stuttering is not that big problem and can be cured our brain is amazing as we can train it to our advantage. At any point if you feel that your life will never change or you cannot excel in life if you have this stuttering issue. All you need is, to read Lee's book very well & to start working on the issue head-on, The whole concept of this book revolves on the basis of scientific studies of neuroplasticity which is proof that your brain is malleable and you can shape your working of brain no matter what your age is or how deeply a bad habit is ingrained in your brain. This book opens the doors for all stutterers to transform into the best version of himself/herself & would enable one to live life to the fullest. All this requires patience, dedicated hardwork, consistency and positive outlook towards yourself and the whole world. I highly recommend this book to stutterers, ex-stutterers, persons having relation with stutterer!!. Please don't hesitate to buy it if you are suffering from this problem, even if it doent work out for you, you will learn many things to improve your personality for sure. But for the most of people, It 100% worth the money and time you would give & it if you are truly willing to follow the steps written in it & put 100% efforts (Transformation doesnt come easy my friends). I hope each & eveyone of you reading this cure this impediment totally, overcome by killing the fear and become a fluent speaker you have always dreamed of becoming. I am sure the day is not be far when Lee's methods will make you the best public speaker of his or her group. Turn this stuttering curse to a blessing by helping yourself. May the god be always with you!

This actually works ,changed my life, highly recommended , in the same class as Alan Carr If you really want to stop stuttering this is it

This book has helped me a lot to beat Satan Stuttering, as he describes it. The techniques are simple, but we need to have commitment to achieve fluency. After reading some books in the past, this is by far the most complete and best for me. Mostly because Lee was a PWS (Person Who Stutters) and he has achieved fluency using the methods described in this book. I now look for skyping with Lee to improve my speech even more. Everyone who wants to beat stuttering must read this book.