Intensive Non-avoidance Group Therapy with Adults Stutterers: Experience from Bulgaria

In Bulgaria numerous approaches are used to treat stuttering, yet there is a paucity of empirically based research concerning stuttering treatment outcomes. ‘‘Evidence-based’’ treatments, built on well-researched and scientifically validated techniques, remain relatively rare in the field of stuttering and are usually limited to behavioral and fluency shaping approaches (Boberg & Kully, 1994; Boberg & Kully, 1985; Craig et al., 1996; R. J. Ingham, 2003; Onslow, 2003; Bothe, 2004). With increasing emphasis being placed on evidence-based practices in clinical speech language pathology, an objective evaluation of the effectiveness of specific stuttering treatment approaches in Bulgaria is imperative (Георгиева, 2005). The new paradigm of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is unknown to the majority of Bulgarian logopedists (Георгиева, 2002; Георгиева, 2005; Онслоу, 2004). EBP is a popular concept in other European Union countries, as well as in the USA, Australia, and Canada, and is regarded as fundamental to logopedics practice (Sacket, Rosenberg, Muir-Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996; Ingham, 2003; Ingham, & Cordes, 1997). However, appraising EBP is often controversial and difficult (Langevin & Kully, 2003; Кully & Langevin, 2005). Because of the lack of EBP guidelines in Bulgaria in relation to stuttering, it is difficult to provide: (a)The maximum potential benefits for clients (b) Optimum clinical education and training for logopedics students and practicing speech language pathologists (c) More cost-effective practice (d) Knowledge about difficult or unusual cases in fluency disorders (e) Better treatment for each individual stutterer.