All about discussion! I looked up Joe Sheehan and avoidance conflict. Specifically this paper: https://www.stammering.org/speaking-out/article/short-course-diagnosis-and-treatment-stuttering-conflict-theory-and-avoidance Sheehan has a lot of things right here when it comes to the social-emotional aspect. I disagree on these points: 5. The conflict hypothesis: The stutterer blocks or stops whenever conflicting approach and avoidance tendencies reach an equilibrium. 6. The fear-reduction hypothesis: The occurrence of stuttering reduces the fear that elicits it sufficiently to permit release of the blocked word, resolving the conflict momentarily and enabling the stutterer to continue. I then went down the rabbit hole of Avoidance Reduction Therapy and the various stuttering paradoxes (e.g., "I stammer therefore I must try hard not to stammer But when I try hard I stammer worse, so I must hold back from trying and surrender to the stammer But when I do that, I feel inadequate and I cannot communicate, so I must try hard not to stammer?") Now I am slightly second guessing my knowledge on blocking. Apparently I am completely wrong. Speaking in detail with a colleague about this. There is a new resurgence in the therapy community about blocking being a form of holding back and avoiding stuttering. Thank you for engaging in discussion. Makes me a better therapist. (Edit: I am wrong)