Adult therapy

Adults come to a speech pathologist for many reasons: a voice that tires by the end of a teaching day, words that don’t come back the same way after a stroke, a stutter that’s been there for decades, food that catches on the way down. Whatever brought you in, the work is goal-led — you set what success looks like, we figure out how to get there together.

What we work with

Voice. Hoarseness, vocal fatigue, loss of range or projection. Common in teachers, presenters, parents of small children, singers, and people recovering from upper-respiratory illness. Sessions cover vocal hygiene, breath support, resonance, and the small habits that make a voice last a full day without strain.

Speech (articulation and motor speech). Difficulty being understood — slurred speech after a stroke or head injury, the articulation changes of Parkinson’s disease, residual sound errors from childhood. The work is structured, repeatable, and meets you at your current level rather than starting from scratch.

Language after stroke or brain injury (aphasia). Word-finding, sentence-building, reading and writing recovery, and the conversational strategies that keep you in the exchange even when a word goes missing. Family is involved where it helps; sessions often include partner-training so the people closest to you become part of the recovery, not bystanders.

Stuttering. Adults who stutter often want something different than children do — not fluency at any cost, but confidence in specific situations: a job interview, a wedding speech, a phone call they’ve been avoiding. Sessions are framed around those situations.

Swallowing. Difficulty with food or drink, the feeling of food sticking, coughing during meals. See the Swallowing page for the detail — same clinician, same room, same approach.

Cognitive-communication after brain injury, MND, or dementia. Strategies for memory, attention, and conversation when the underlying condition is progressive or has changed the brain in specific ways. Family education is core, not optional.

How it works

The first session is always the Initial assessment — 45 minutes to understand what’s happening, listen to what you’d like to be different, and outline a starting point. From there, session length is 45 minutes; frequency depends on the goal.

Adult sessions are 45 minutes (vs 30 minutes for children under 10) — adult attention spans and complex goals warrant the longer block.

What you won’t find here

We don’t claim outcomes. Australian professional rules prohibit testimonials and outcome guarantees about clinical care, and they’re right to — speech pathology works in degrees, not promises. What we will do is be honest about what’s likely to change, what’s likely to stay the same, and what’s worth your time and money.

Bring a support person if you’d like one in the room. Bring questions. Bring the doctor’s letter if you have it. The first session is the start, not the test.