Welcome, we’re the ACT to Live podcast. ACT to Live is a place where we observe everyday life, pose questions, and facilitate conversations together as we walk on this journey of life. We hope that by participating in this podcast and connecting with each other that we can all become the best versions of ourselves. So, come on, let’s take a walk!
“A journey of thousand miles starts beneath one’s feet (or with one step)” (taken from a Chinese Proverb in Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching ascribed to Laozi.) This expression has been with me for as long as I can remember, and gotten me through many hard days, long nights, and fear-filled thoughts where the only way to the other side was to know I could chose to keep moving, and “put one foot in front of the other” (to quote that American classic Christmas claymation program, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”).
My journey of more than a thousand steps began when I was three years old, and started to show signs and symptoms of stuttering. This would persist throughout of my life (and continues today, as you will hear in this podcast) and has been a gift and a curse (depending on the week, day, hour or minute and the swirling thoughts that continuously revel around my perceptions of my speech).
The gift of stuttering has given me purpose. I have been fortunate enough to find a career path as a speech-language pathologist and a professor teaching undergraduate and graduate students about a variety of communication disorders. It has also given me the opportunity to meet wonderful people around the world who stutter and do not stutter and do research about the attitudes of stuttering and the psychosocial and social cognition of stuttering both the conscious and unconscious perceptions toward stuttering. Stuttering has also allowed me to collaborate with Director John Gomez on being a writer in and feature in the documentary about stuttering called WHEN I STUTTER (2017), collaborate with Jaime Michise applying the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness to people who stutter, being a team facilitator at Camp Shout Out (a camp for kids who stutter) and work and present with MANY wonderfully talented people about communication disorders, psychology, and counseling principles applied to communication disorders.
The curse of stuttering, and stories related to how I went from being suicidal at the age of eighteen to starting this podcast will be revealed through varies episodes as ACTtoLive unfolds and moves forward on OUR journey of learning how to move through our lives with compassion, kindness, and so much more in order to live full and valued life.
So without any further ado, ‘Come on, let’s take a walk!’
Jaime Michise:
Although Jaime now lives in Frisco, Texas, she hails from the lovely state of Michigan! Go Blue! Throughout her childhood, in addition to her studies and involvement in music and sports, Jaime discovered her love of learning, passion for helping others, and desire to learn as much as she could about herself and others!
Jaime spent six years living in Bowling Green, Ohio where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in speech-language pathology. During this time, Jaime began to dabble in mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and other therapies centered around helping individuals to connect with their values. While Jaime’s journey with ACT and mindfulness was initially centered on developing a better understanding of the roles of grief and an extremely sensitive temperament in her own life, she soon began to collaborate with friend and colleague, Scott Palasik, on incorporating these approaches into therapy for individuals with communication disorders - primarily stuttering.
Jaime’s career as a speech-language pathologist has taken her to Ohio, Japan, and Texas. In 2010, she began her career at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), where she worked with children with a wide variety of communication disorders. In 2016, Jaime moved to Nagoya, Japan and spent two years working with children and families in the international community. During this time, Jaime also studied Japanese and was able to experience firsthand the challenges that can accompany communication difficulties. In 2018, Jaime moved to Texas and started a private practice in the Frisco area. She specializes in working with children, teens, and adults who stutter and well as those with other speech and language difficulties. Additionally, Jaime works with clients and families internationally and within the United States via telehealth and is an adjunct instructor at the University of North Texas.
Jaime continues to collaborate with Scott on various topics related to the clinical applications of ACT and mindfulness with people who stutter or who have other communication disorders. Together Jaime and Scott have published several papers and have presented at international, national, state, and local conferences. Additionally, every summer, Jaime spends a week back in her home state of Michigan working as a facilitator at Camp Shout Out for Youth who Stutter.
In her spare time, Jaime enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, reading, yoga, and traveling!
