ABSTRACT
Relaxation approaches in one form or another have been associated with therapy for people who stammer for at least a century. It is understandable why this should be the case, as stammering is a communication disorder frequently characterised by struggle and tension. However, there is still no empirical evidence to suggest that, in isolation at least, relaxation is a strategy which has any long-lasting effect on stammering. Relaxation can be, and frequently is, induced in the safe haven of speaking situations in the clinic, sometimes with subsequent temporary positive effects on fluency, but once the client is outside the tension often remains very difficult to control.
