The Words You Hold Back—and What They Cost You
Andrea Dupuis has spent more than twenty years listening to how people speak… the words, the breath, the tension and the pauses in between.
As a speech-language pathologist (SLP), she has worked across school boards, specialised classrooms and a wide range of service models. She has sat one-on-one with children learning their first clear sounds. She has walked beside clients who stutter — into grocery stores, shopping malls and the conversations they feared most.
Today Andrea is a P.A.T.H. Coach. She helps clients rewrite their habitual internal speech patterns so the voice inside their head becomes an ally.
Her journey is a beautiful bridge between two worlds — the mechanics of speech and the meaning behind it. And the more you understand one, the more clearly you see the other.
During grad school, Andrea joined a stuttering support group. The people who stuttered — the ones who had formed the group — took the student clinicians out in public and taught them to stutter on purpose.
Then the students' job was to take other members out and do the same.
Andrea chose the hardest challenge she could imagine. She walked up to attractive strangers and stuttered deliberately. People talked down to her. They rushed to finish her sentences. In her words, it was not pleasant at all… it was humbling.
And it taught her something no textbook could. For many people who stutter, the struggle begins before a word is spoken; the fear of being judged almost too much to face.
Stuttering is often anticipatory. The speaker expects the block… expects the listener's reaction… and the body tightens before the first sound can be made.
Andrea once dated a man who stuttered. At a restaurant, he'd tell her he was ordering poutine. When the waitress arrived, he ordered fries instead. Why? The "p" in poutine is a plosive — the airflow stops completely before release. The "f" in fries is a fricative — the air keeps flowing. Saying 'f' words is much easier than saying 'p' words. So he changed what he wanted to fit what he felt he could say.
That is the silent cost of anticipation. And it is where P.A.T.H. Coaching does powerful work — calming the nervous system, regulating the emotions that rise before a stressful moment, and replacing the anticipation of struggle with the familiar feeling of ease.
The more safe you feel… the more freely your words flow.
Andrea recently shared so much more about the mechanisms of speech and empowered communication, from her wealth of experience, on the Your Word Is Law podcast. We learnt about...
In speech pathology: A disfluency is a break in the flow of speech. We all have them… an “um”, a repeated word, a restart. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) assesses whether these patterns indicate a fluency disorder.
In P.A.T.H. Coaching: We all have interruptions in empowering self-talk too. A flash of doubt. A “who do I think I am?” P.A.T.H. helps you build a more empowering inner voice… especially when stress, doubt or fear show up. More self-belief. More encouragement. Words that support you and flow as naturally as breath.
In speech pathology: Stuttering interrupts the flow and rhythm of speech. Alongside the speech difficulty, a person may experience unhelpful reactions from listeners… and painful reactions within themselves.
In P.A.T.H. Coaching: We work with that inner response.
“I’m going to stumble.” “They’ll think I’m slow.” Repeated often enough, those words can build an expectation of struggle… and tension before speaking.
A personalised P.A.T.H. offers a new script:
I speak with ease. My words arrive in their own perfect time. I am safe to be heard.
Through daily listening in deep relaxation, you practise becoming familiar with a more supportive inner voice. P.A.T.H. supports how you feel about speaking… and being heard.
In speech pathology: Cluttering affects the pace and clarity of speech. Words may run together, syllables disappear, and pauses arrive in unexpected places. The speaker may only notice when someone points it out. Therapy builds awareness through recordings, pacing and clearer pronunciation.
In P.A.T.H. Coaching: Most of us know what it feels like to clutter on the inside.
“I’m behind… I’ll never catch up… what’s wrong with me?”
Thoughts race into each other. And we often only hear the pattern when someone reflects it back.
A P.A.T.H. Coach listens to your language and reframes it in your personalised recording. Relaxed listening gives each new thought room to breathe. Each affirmation is carefully worded to connect with your most empowered inner state, and make that inner state feel familiar and natural to express—with simple words.
In speech pathology: Auditory bombardment involves hearing a target sound repeated clearly and consistently. It helps a child become familiar with the sound before, and alongside, practising it. For this part, the child simply listens.
In P.A.T.H. Coaching: There is a beautiful parallel here. You press play and relax. Your recording repeats empowering language drawn from your own challenges and desires… helping a new way of speaking to yourself become familiar.
Andrea describes a progression from listening to modelling to practice. With P.A.T.H., you hear words that reflect the person you choose to be. Again and again. Then you begin bringing those words into everyday life.
In speech pathology: Carryover means using a new communication skill beyond the therapy room… independently, in everyday life. Andrea knows this challenge well. A skill that flows in a private session can become difficult again in the classroom.
In P.A.T.H. Coaching: The aim is also to bring change into real life. It is one thing to feel confident while relaxing. It is another to carry that feeling into a meeting, a phone call or a difficult conversation. Daily listening helps you rehearse empowering self-talk so it becomes more familiar and available when you need it. The aim is to make supportive language part of how you live… and who you feel yourself to be.
P.A.T.H.—Personalised Affirmations Theta Hypnosis—shares some familiar themes with speech pathology. Listening. Repetition. Modelling. Practice that carries into everyday life. It offers support in two ways:
For clients: Alongside speech therapy, P.A.T.H. can support the emotional experience of speaking… the anticipation, self-talk and feelings about being heard.
For clinicians: People who spend their days supporting others deserve support too. A personalised P.A.T.H. gives them time to relax and reconnect with their own calm, encouraging inner voice.
Andrea describes feeling calmer, less overwhelmed and slower to react. In her words… she feels safe to use her words.
Twenty years understanding how words are made… and now, helping people choose the words they live by.
Hear Andrea’s story on the Your Word Is Law podcast, in “Why Your Words Aren’t Working”. Listen on all major podcast platforms, or below… and discover what your words are creating.
And take your first step on getting your very own P.A.T.H. with me HERE and to work with Andrea contact her HERE.
Ben Grant Mitchell
Author of Your Word Is Law
Founder, Grant Empowerment
Creator of the Leadership Language Audit™, P.A.T.H. Coaching™ and B.A.M. Coaching™