Fight or Flight – Episode 76
Posted on: December 26, 2011
Episode 76 features Andrea Montes, who hails from Seattle, Washington. Andrea works in Redmond as a massage therapist. She always loved getting massages when she was younger, and became good at giving massages because she knew what she liked.
Andrea decided to become a massage therapist, both because of her love for it and because she thought she wouldn’t have to talk much. Not surprisingly, she learned otherwise!
Andrea only “came out” about her stuttering 7 or 8 months ago. She was covert, and worked hard at hiding stuttering at work, for fear of being judged or fired. She was terrified of being found out as a stutterer.
She talks about how it took so much energy to hide, that when she left work and returned to her safety zone, she was almost inaudible. Her blocks were severe after being near perfectly fluent at work.
Listen in as we also talk about quality of life, getting rid of the “fluency dream”, self esteem and anxiety. Andrea also talks about her experience with the McGuire Program, and how it helped her “come out of hiding.”
Andrea shares that she is still dealing with the shame of stuttering, which prompts a segment about how we manage shame and other people’s reactions. Andrea gets really honest about her fear of her “big blocks.”
I loved getting to know Andrea, and loved her gut honesty. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions, or just let Andrea know how great she did in sharing her story.
Credit for the music used in this episode goes to ccMixter.
9 Responses to "Fight or Flight – Episode 76"
December 27, 2011 at 3:04 PM
Hi Andrea and Pamela,
I REALLY loved Andrea’s story. That one hit home for me.I can totally relate to a lot of things Andrea said. Picking a job that doesn’t require too much talking,high anxiety,divorce. I was covert for many years and when my husband left in 2005 I noticed that my stutter was slowly getting worse and I was under a lot of stress from everything. This was a great story! Great job Andrea and Pamela!
December 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM
I finally got a chance to listen to this. I’m pleased with how it turned out. I said everything I wanted to say. Thank you Pam for having me on your podcast!
5 | Kishore Bisht
December 28, 2011 at 11:37 AM
Great Andrea!
Loved listening to both of you wonderful women.
Thanks Pam for this another amazing podcast.
December 29, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Great Show!
A lot of people including people who stutter,think that severe stutterers don’t have “hiding issues”,but i and others although we stutter severe ,we tried all we could to hide our stuttering.
I personally only talked with very few people that i felt safe to talk with,with the most people i couldn’t talk.
And when you don’t talk,you develop very high fear to talk,with very hard blocks (speech tensing muscles ),and it is very hard to break this vicious circle.
Thanks Ari!
December 29, 2011 at 4:14 PM
Congratulations Andrea for a great interview. You did great. It takes a person with courage to open up about their experience with stuttering. Everything you said very well could apply to many others stutterers who have/are going through the same experience you did and you just gave them courage to let go. Life is a journey and it takes step by step to get where we truly want to be in life. And you are right the Hispanic culture is different. They don’t welcome a person who stutters as the American culture does. Growing up in that environment can be very confusing and sad. It’s great of your part that you are seeing a psychologist to help you cope with it. Personally, I put myself through therapy when I was 18 to help me cope with all my emotions attached to stuttering, family culture, and acceptance. It was the best investment and decision I have ever taken in my life. You will do great! Thank you for sharing your life story with us. Again Congratulations on your success!
April 30, 2012 at 6:31 PM
I am still debating to come out. :(( I feel shame and saddness because of my stammer. I admire Andrea though,
June 4, 2014 at 5:27 AM
how is andrea doing now? I wish there was an update…I admire the candidness…very enjoyable to listen to
Make Room For The Stuttering 
December 26, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Just finished listening to it !!!Great work 🙂 Andrea is a lively lady :):)