"The self-hypnosis/ visualisation approach developed has greatly reduced my stammer. There are many different areas where hypnosis can help, and when people make the commitment to use these techniques significant changes are possible. I strongly recommend the effective individual consultations." Ian (London, SW1).

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•  If you felt in control of your speech all the time - as you do when you are fluent - how would that affect your blocking and stammering?

•  If you were able to rid yourself of the belief that "I have always blocked and stammered in certain contexts which means that I always will stammer", what would happen to your blocking and stammering?

•  If you were not fearful of the judgements of other people about how you speak, what would happen to your blocking and stammering?

•  If you viewed the world you live in as a warm, inviting, friendly and supportive place rather than as a place to be feared and always to be on your guard about, how would that affect your blocking and stammering?

Blocking and stammering has a psychological basis. If a person can speak fluently in one context, then that person can learn to speak fluently in all contexts. People who stammer already know how to talk - they do not need to re-learn how to talk. Blocking does not occur all the time and is only triggered in those contexts where the person has associated fear and/or anxiety. Eve's approach is to help access the same state of mind that the person is in when they are speaking fluently to those times when they block.

Stammering can create feelings of helplessness, frustration, embarrassment and feelings of disempowerment. The roots of the stammering generally lies in childhood although sometimes it does not appear until adolescence or even adulthood. It would have served some positive, vital, childhood need that is probably no longer relevant and the present behaviour provides little that is positive for the person now.

Stammering can be connected with feelings of helplessness in not being able to speak when required to. There may be events in the person's life where external problems have been personalised, where they have assumed some degree of responsibility and then internalised and expressed the hurt in the muscles used for breathing and speaking. They begin to stammer. This leads to feeling different and strange and this growing fear itself creates even more stammering.

Emotions such as fear profoundly affect the entire mind-body system. The fight or flight mechanism pumps adrenalin into the body for increased muscle power so that the person can run away or defend their ground. However, another response is that the person freezes to the spot. Even though the fight or flight response has been activated all action is inhibited, including the ability to speak.

Like all muscles, the diaphragm tends to contract as a response to fear. In order to speak, the diaphragm needs to be relaxed. So what is happening is that there are two powerful forces trying to move the diaphragm in opposite directions:

•  You have the natural response to fear contracting the diaphragm and drawing air in.

•  Then you have the desire to speak trying to relax the diaphragm so that air can move over the vocal cords.

The result is a frozen diaphragm.