So....I've been to the McGuire Program

So....I've been to the McGuire Program A little while ago I was encouraged by a number of people in this subreddit to go to a McGuire Program intensive course, and I did.... here are my insights First of all, for those who don't know anything about The McGuire Program, its a 4 days intensive course that was developed by a stutterer (Dave McGuire) for people who stutter, and everyone on the course (instructors, coaches, directors...etc) stutter. The course is based on reprogramming your speaking habits from the start,and learning a new way of speaking, and using a new breathing technique called "costal breathing". Also learning a number of "weapons" that we must use when we speak to sound more articulate and eloquent. The course does not promise or aim at fluency, it aims at becoming an articulate and eloquent speaker, that is (to my understanding) being able to communicate effectively, clearly and without struggle or distortion, not necessarily fluent, but close enough, as most of the successful program graduates don't face any struggle in any speaking situation, making it impossible to tell that they stutter, I have met and spoke to a number of them during and after the course. So during/after the course you'd be able to approach speaking situations with the desire to use the technique, and without the pressure of wanting to hide your stutter. As I said, the course is an intensive one, 4 days of hard work, 14 hours a day, with lots of challenges that will push you out of your comfort zones, and make you more confidant and accepting of your stutter, like making 100 contacts at the mall with disclosures about your stutter and do a public speaking challenge. Although the course runs for 4 days, a personal coach is assigned to every new student, where the new student must call daily for checkups and new challenges. And a list of hundreds of coaches around the world, where the new student must call and talk to get advice and insights about the technique. Being in a room with about 40 people who stutter, who feel/felt the same way that i do/did, and frankly talking about it, was truly a new experience for me. And seeing that all the coaches and staff who had suffered from stuttering for most of their lives, have become people of self confidence and self-acceptance that only a few "normal" people have. So does it work? yes absolutely, after the second day you could tell that something is changing with the way you speak, and at the last day you'd know that you are now no longer afraid of speaking. It's been about two weeks since I finished the course, and I'm very impressed and happy with how much I've improved, its a journey though, not a magical cure, and I'm still at the beginning of this journey, but looking forward to challenges and obstacles that will face me. **tldr**: there is no magic cure for stuttering, fluency is a mirage that we stutterer seems to believe that we will get to, but the McGuire program gives stutters the tools to handle and control their speech, and I would highly recommend doing the research and giving the course a try