Niall Berrington

I joined The McGuire Programme hoping that it would cure my stutter and it would be the answer to all my problems. During the opening presentation of the course, I painfully realised how naive I was.

One of the first messages you are thought of is that there is no cure for stuttering. I was initially quite despondent to hear this but as the days of the course rolled on, I saw example after example of people on the programme very comfortable in their own skin and excelling in life. I thought there must be something to this.

I left my first course feeling full of confidence and like a new man, ready to take on the world. This didn’t last too long. My level of maturity was not where it needed to be to get the most out of the programme. I was not putting the work in, going back to old habits, avoiding situations and generally feeling down. The next course came around, again I left feeling great but that feeling didn’t last. It’s for moments like this where the McGuire Programme really holds its own when you are not feeling so great, you know there is someone who has and is going through the same situations as you; all you need to do is pick up the phone or go to a support meeting.

As the months and years rolled by, I slowly learned that there is no running away from my stutter and I will only get out of it what I put into it. Learning to accept that you are a person who stutters is a massive hurdle to get over but The McGuire Programme gives you the tools for you to control your stutter and to not let it control you. It’s then down to you to go out there and live your life.