I've always had a fairly severe stutter so it's always been open. I've read books, been a member of the NSA for a long time and tried numerous therapies and even i'm still trying to accept it. For someone who's covert I imagine it's that much harder. But the good news is, I know several people who have spent most of their lives being covert stutterers and then transitioned into opening up and accepting it (this is not an easy or quick journey, covert or overt). I think the basis for all of us that keeps us held back and from accepting ourselves is Shame (or whatever variation or word you choose to use). The deal is to learn not to stay a slave of the shame and instead truly know that it is ok to stutter. The people I know who have accepted their stutterers, they don't pre-think about speaking anymore and they don't worry when theyre talking or when they're stuttering. But most of all what sets them apart, is they see themselves as people who stutter (stutterers, whatever label you like). A lot of these people have become really fluent and most people dont know they, but they still undoubtedly think of themselves as stutterers. It is just who they are. It is a part of them, whether they are fluent or not. Afterall, we stutterers dont stutter all the time. It's as simple as sometimes we stutter, sometimes we dont. This varies for people. But we are forever stutterers and that is totally fine. It's just another trait we have. I can imagine how tough and lonely it must be for a covert stutterer. I'm wary to give too much therapy advice since I know a therapist who works with this and her plan is super individualized and organized. I can't deliver that. But my advice to you is the same to all. The best thing I think you can do is if you have the means, go to the NSA annual conference. It's the best resource on the planet. www.westutter.org. Check it out. Go. On the website you can also look at local NSA chapters and hopefully find one in your area. This can be a safe place where you can talk about stuttering to people who understand and even show some stuttering if you're feeling up for it. Also, check out this list of covert related podcasts you might like: http://stuttertalk.com/?s=covert