This step-by-step guide is for those working with people who experience disorders of speech, language, voice and fluency. The author evaluates the forms of counselling that are currently practised alongside direct treatment of the disorders themselves, and argues for greater training opportunities and a wider provision of counselling in this field.

Peggy Dalton also explores the effects of communication problems on the person's sense of self, relationships and perceptions of the world. She stresses the need for a greater understanding of the experiences of people whose lives may be severely limited by their communication problems and shows how important it is to find ways of discovering the personal meaning of experience when it is unable to be expressed in words.