Stuttering Therapy

Before enrolling in treatment, you will need an assessment to determine your needs and the therapy approach best suited for you. During the assessment, staff will evaluate your speech and communication skills, probe your responses to treatment techniques, and discuss what therapy involves.

Young children are assessed through an enjoyable play format which does not draw negative attention to their speech.

If you are not able to come to Edmonton or Calgary, please contact ISTAR for other assessment options. You may seek an assessment without enrolling in therapy.

Intensive Treatment Clinic Dates

Adult

• May 11 to 29, 2026 (3-week Intensive) $5,300
• January 2027 (2 weeks plus 10 hours prior to intensive - dates to be announced) $5,040

Teen

• July 6 to 24, 2026 (3-week Intensive) $5,300

*Registration closes 4-6 weeks prior to each Intensive or Refresher start date. Please register early to avoid disappointment. Group sessions are held pending minimum enrollment levels.

What is involved? Overview of CSP Intensive Clinic program for teens and adults

The Comprehensive Stuttering Program (CSP) is an integrated treatment approach for people who stutter which includes fluency shaping strategies and a focus on avoidance reduction and attitudinal change.

The 3-week intensives takes place annually in January or May (adults) and July (teens) see current dates above. Clients will receive 90 hours of direct therapy during the intensive program (6 hours of therapy per day). Clients in the teen program may range in age from 12 to 18 years old. The 3-week group intensive programs are comprised of three phases of treatment, and sessions are generally held during weekdays from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

The first phase is the establishment phase. Here, therapy is directive and relies heavily on completing massed motor practice of fluency skills in and out of the clinic setting. Clients learn and establish the use of fluency skills, stuttering management skills, learn the different prolongation rates (slow, medium, slight and control) and participate in group self-talk seminars. During self-talk seminars, topics such as the etiology of stuttering, the experience of stuttering and the feelings associated with stuttering, self-talk, and effective communication will be explored. A clinician will facilitate these group discussions.

These skills are then transferred to realistic and functional practice during the second phase of treatment, known as the transfer phase. Here, clients will be supported with clinician feedback and support to apply their initial learning and practice from the establishment phase into meaningful speaking situations. Clients will complete transfer activities designed to help them generalize their learning into functional situations and use fluency skills while completing tasks such as ordering food, group conversations, introductions, mock job interviews, and presentations, etc.

In the third phase of treatment, the maintenance phase, clients will participate in seminars and be given readings to learn about maintenance and maintenance planning. Topics such as how to create a maintenance plan and barriers and solutions to potential problems encountered after the intensive are discussed.

Additional considerations:

• In the first week and half of the clinic, clients will complete mass motor practice activities to help with their initial learning and mastery of the fluency skills. This means they will complete many repetitive activities which can be fatiguing and monotonous. It requires a high level of engagement, stamina, and an ability to sustain attention.
• Clients will receive a fair amount of verbal feedback (a mix of positive and corrective) to support their accuracy and consistency while practicing the fluency skills. While clinicians and student clinicians are skilled to adjust their amount and type of feedback, it will be important that clients have some ability to tolerate feedback.
• During self talk seminars, clients will be invited and encouraged to share about their experiences with stuttering. While many clients often regard these seminars as a helpful and thought provoking experience, as many report that they have seldom met another with a shared lived experience, these topics could evoke an emotional reaction.
• As this is a group therapy program clients will often be paired with another client during sessions. This is meant to support clients generalization of skills and their broader communication skills. While many value the group and social experience, it is not always for everyone for various reasons, and that's okay!
• Graduate student clinicians will be primarily facilitating therapy sessions under the supervision of an ISTAR clinician.

Refresher Clinics + Other Maintenance Offerings

To help you maintain your fluency gains after attending an intensive clinic, we suggest follow-up visits to a local speech pathologist in your area. If this is not possible, you can attend refresher clinics at ISTAR, as listed below, or arrange for individual sessions at the clinic or on the telephone.

Refresher clinics: Held in Edmonton, unless otherwise noted.

• February 6-8, 2026 (Adult – 3-day Refresher) $865
• June 19-21, 2026 (Adult – 3-day Refresher)  $865
• July 27-31, 2026 (Adult/Teen 5-day Refresher) $1,450
• September 19-20, 2026 (Adult – 2-day Refresher) $577
• November 16-20, 2026 (Adult/Teen 5-day Refresher) $1,450

Child (7 to 13) Session Dates:

• March 24 to 27, 2026 (Camp, Calgary) $800
• March 30 to April 2, 2026 (Camp, Edmonton) $800
• August 4 to 14, 2026 (online Intensive; required before attending Camp)  $3,000
• August 18 to 21, 2026 (Camp, Edmonton or Calgary) $800

*Registration closes 4-6 weeks prior to each Intensive or Camp start date. Please register early to avoid disappointment. Group sessions are held pending minimum enrollment levels.

What is involved? Children's Program Information:

ISTAR’S children's program is held over 3 weeks that are divided into two sections.

The first portion of the program is a 2-week online intensive treatment that consists of 2 hour sessions per day. Sessions are held from either 10am-12pm or 1-3pm. Please note the timing of the session will depend upon availability. The intensive treatment dates are generally during August (see current dates belwo).

During the intensive treatment, children and parents will learn and practice fluency shaping skills at 3 different rates of speech (long stretch, medium stretch, and slight stretch). Sessions will be individualized and facilitated by a graduate student and supervised by an ISTAR clinician. Towards the end of the second treatment week, some portion of treatment will include small group work so that the children can start to interact with each other to begin to develop their comfort and confidence to use skills with peers who are also learning and practicing fluency skills. The purpose of the intensive portion of this program is for children and parents to learn and refine their practice in using fluency skills consistently, train parents to learn how to deliver specific and meaningful feedback to encourage their child's skill accuracy and consistency, and to create improved motor speech stability. Parent meetings will also be included throughout these two weeks and so a parent is required to attend and be present during the online sessions with their child.

The second portion of the children's program is an in-person 4-day camp in either Edmonton or Calgary (see current dates below). The camp will be held for 4 hours a day from 8:30am-12:30pm. The purpose of the camp is to support children to take what they have learned from the intensive and apply their learning into meaningful and functional contexts. The camp is entirely group based with activities that will be either small group or large group oriented. Here, children will have an opportunity to be supported to use fluency skills to play with peers, order food, give presentations, use skills in a stimulating environment such as a field trip to the zoo, and in a simulated classroom experience. Additionally, the camp includes seminars that briefly and gently discuss important topics such as teasing and bullying, how to explain what stuttering is to a peer, how to explain what and why you use fluency skills to a peer, etc. Parent meetings are also included throughout the week to discuss topics such as: how to support your child to use skills in unstructured environments, how to break down challenging speaking situations into smaller parts to work toward mastery of that speaking situation, how to support your child's ongoing speech stability and maintenance following the camp, and how to support and foster positive communicative attitudes in your child. A parent is also expected to attend the entirety of the camp with their child.

Please note that if your family is eligible to receive funding, this funding will be applied to supplement the cost of the program. Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions about funding or if you would like to learn more about our ICAP funding program.

Pre-school Therapy

Early assessment and treatment are important to prevent stuttering from becoming established and interfering with social and emotional development. If you are concerned about your child's fluency, we encourage you to contact us to find out if an assessment or treatment is advisable. In general, the earlier the treatment, the better the results. Your family's involvement is a vital part of therapy. Guided by assessment findings, you and your clinician may choose one of several options:

• monitoring your child
• indirect treatment where you learn to change aspects of your child's communication environment
• direct treatment to help your child build fluency

Extended individual sessions (generally the most effective for pre-schoolers) include:

• 1 or 2 sessions (30 to 60 minutes each) per week over several months
• home practice
• extensive parent training

Semi-intensive sessions may be arranged for out-of-town families.

School Age Therapy

Your child will learn to handle stuttering through fluency skills related to voice initiation, articulation, speech rate and sometimes breathing. They are also helped to overcome any negative feelings and avoidances they may have.

If teasing is a concern, a special program developed at the institute will help your family address this issue. Treatment is family-based and emphasizes strategies to develop both the child's and the parent's abilities to manage fluency over the long term. Because therapy is not a cure, ongoing effort and commitment are necessary to maintain new speech patterns and attitudes.

Extended and semi-intensive programs are available throughout the year. Intensive clinics, offered each summer, include:

• 3 hours of therapy daily for 3 1/2 weeks
• small group format with 2 clients per clinician
• daily home practice
• extensive parent training
• special meetings for other family members

Teens + Adults

Therapy is the beginning of a long rehabilitation process because stuttering has been a part of your speech for so long. But a beginning it is - a solid and supportive step toward increased communication effectiveness and confidence.

You can learn to manage your speech through fluency skills related to breathing, voice initiation, articulation, speech rate and tension modification. You will work to overcome speech fears and avoidances and build confidence, social skills and self-management abilities. Great emphasis is placed on transfer and maintenance of skills learned in therapy. Although the general treatment approach is similar for teens and adults, specific strategies and exercises are designed to match the needs, abilities and interests of the particular age group. Since therapy is not a cure, ongoing effort and commitment are necessary to maintain new speech patterns and attitudes after therapy.

Intensive clinics offered throughout the year include:

• 6 hours of therapy daily for three weeks
• small group format with 2 to 3 clients per clinician
• daily home practice
• special meetings with family members
• individualized planning throughout

Extended and semi-intensive therapy is also available.

ISTAR is a self-supporting organization which does not receive funding from government. Fees charged cover only part of the cost of providing therapy. The remainder is covered by donations from the Elks and Royal Purple of Alberta and Canada, private foundations, businesses, and many generous individuals who wish to make therapy available to as many people as possible.

Funding programs, including the ICAP Fund (ISTAR Client Assistance Program), are available for speech therapy to help make treatment as accessible as possible to clients and their families. Private speech therapy fees are also tax deductible as a medical expense. Please call us at 780.492.2619 or email istar@ualberta.ca for more information.

Speech Therapy as a Tax Deduction

Private speech therapy is tax deductible as a medical expense, however a medical referral is required. Please keep your treatment invoices and receipts as evidence of payment. We encourage you to consult your tax advisor for more information.

Disability Tax Credit for People who Stutter

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recognized stuttering as a disability entitling taxpayers to a tax credit of $9,428 (2023) or $14,928 for children. To apply for this credit, obtain a T2201 form from your nearest taxation office.

ICAP Fund (ISTAR Client Assistance Program)

The ICAP Fund has been established to help adults, teenagers and children obtain speech therapy at ISTAR. Supported by donors, the fund is intended to help those who, due to their financial situation, would otherwise be unable to enter a treatment program.

Whether you are eligible to receive funding from the ICAP Fund depends on the size of your family and your income. The family is defined as all those supported by the family income, whether adults in the home or children or adults 23 years of age and under who are attending a post-secondary educational program and living away from home.

Applications for subsidies from the ICAP Fund will only be considered when clients have exhausted all other avenues of funding. Please contact ISTAR at 780.492.2619 for more information about the ICAP Fund.

The ICAP Fund exists because of the generosity of donors and volunteers at ISTAR. Individuals contribute their dollars directly to the fund and their time to activities that raise money for the fund. Foundations provide grants and gifts directed specifically for use in the fund. The ICAP Fund would not exist without these caring contributors.

The ICAP Fund is administered by ISTAR volunteers, and operates independently of the clinical program at ISTAR.

Please help support the ICAP Fund by making a donation today. Your cheque should be made payable to "University of Alberta - ISTAR" and can be mailed to ISTAR at:

Institute for Stuttering Treatment & Research
8205 114 St, 3-48 Corbett Hall
Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2G4

Or make a donation using your credit card, calling us at 780-492-2619, or giving online.

As of March 2023, SpeechEasy is no longer available in Canada. The supplier, SpeechEasy International, ceased distributing to Canada due to supply chain shortages resulting in difficulty maintaining inventory levels. SpeechEasy will continue to be available for purchase in the United States.

USA website

SpeechEasy is a device used to treat stuttering. This tiny electronic fluency aid fits into the ear like a hearing aid. It picks up the speaker's voice and plays it back with a slight delay and/or with a change in pitch. This change in auditory feedback can facilitate fluency in some people.

The effect of the SpeechEasy varies, with some people responding very well and others hardly at all. An assessment is needed to determine whether the device is suitable for an individual who stutters.