KST Institute

From patient to therapist

Dr Alexander Wolff von Gudenberg on his life journey and the search for solutions to improve his speech fluency in the long run:

„At the age of four, my stuttering began with severe speech blockages. Speech therapy, physiotherapy and medication attempts were as unsuccessful as psychoanalytical and behavioural therapy treatments. Although massive social and verbal avoidance behaviour and withdrawal tendencies dominated my life during these years, I took courage and started studying medicine to become a specialist.

In 1994, I met an Israeli supplier of the ‚Fluency Shaping‘ software at the International Fluency Association (IFA) conference in Munich and travelled to Jerusalem for six months. There I translated the software as part of a working group at the Hebrew University, adapted it to German needs and developed a modified ‚Fluency Shaping‘ concept. Through the practice software, which has been modified several times in the meantime, and regular practice together with ‚fellow sufferers‘, I then succeeded in the second step in improving the fluency I had achieved and maintaining it in the long run.“