Great post. First, I don't go down the neurological approach because the explanation and solution will not be found there. Stuttering is no more a ''neurological'' problem than walking is neurological. Yes, the brain is involved, but if we say the brain causes something we're then stuck needing to understand the conditions that cause the brain to cause the stuttering. There is a longer theoretical piece to that, but i'll leave it there for now. I like focusing on the process to improve. With respect to using techniques not to stutter, I originally agreed with your thoughts because I thought it was an avoidance strategy. I was tired of mental gymnastics every day. But the techniques served two distinct functions for me. First, when knowing I was about to stutter, purposefully using a technique showed me that I had control of my speech. It's taking back the power to be in control by volitionally deciding to do something different. Eventually, after practicing them a lot when reading, this becomes second nature, which is helpful because the second function using techniques served for me was: I never wanted to experience stuttering again. This was really a big part of my progress. If I do all of this practice, and then go out in the world and stutter a bunch, it creates dissonance between the work I'm doing and my reality. I needed to put a flag in the ground and say, ''goddammit, i'm not stuttering again.'' Those techniques allowed me to never hear myself stutter again AND to never have another horrific stuttering experience that left me emotionally scared forever. Those bad stutters that screw with your mind because they're so emotionally damaging? Those are the enemy during the process. I avoided them at all costs. Those two things made the techniques not a Bandaid for stuttering, but a fundamental part of the progress journey. They are NOT the solution - I used them to help speed up the process of the solution working. I needed to hear and experience speaking a lot without stuttering, and change my mental state and attitude. Those techniques helped me not experience the stuttering as much. But all of this was my experience and my interpretation of why things were effective. Everyone's case and situations are different. Again, great post.