Research Update: Exploring Concealment of Stuttering, Stigma, Identity, and Well-Being

Want to share your feedback? Send us a message!Dr. Hope Gerlach-Houck, Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University, joins Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP to share her recent research related to better understanding concealment and the overall impact on well-being for individuals who stutter. Dr. Gerlach-Houck explores the importance of understanding stigma and identity, intersectionality of identities in relation to concealment, clinical implications, and future areas of research in order to continue to learn more about concealment- ultimately to help people who stutter improve quality of life outcomes and well-being. Relationships between stigma-identity constructs and psychological health outcomes among adults who stutter (Gerlach et al 2021) Bio: Hope Gerlach-Houck is an assistant professor at Western Michigan University. Her research focuses on how context shapes the ways in which people cope with stuttering and how those different ways of coping affect their psychosocial wellbeing. She is particularly interested in exploring relationships between stigma, concealment of stuttering, and wellbeing. Hope had a unique opportunity to learn about stigma this past summer when she was accepted to attend an intensive training on stigma research methods through the NIH. She has been actively involved in support organizations for people who stutter and has worked as a speech therapist at summer camps for youth who stutter. She also oversees stuttering therapy groups for both kids and adults at Western Michigan University.