Posted on February 16, 2026 - 17:11

February 17, 2026

Martha Jeffery, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London, joins host Sara MacIntyre, M.A., CCC-SLP, to discuss a qualitative research project exploring parents’ and children’s perspectives of change following one year of Palin STSC (8–14 years old) therapy. Martha shares the aims and design of the study, which examined how children participating in group or individual therapy, and their parents, described the changes they experienced, and what felt most meaningful.

Drawing on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, the conversation highlights key themes including shifts in perspective, increased confidence and participation, greater use of skills and strategies, and growing independence and resilience. Martha reflects on how meaningful change from the child and parent perspectives can positively contribute to our therapy development, outcome measurement, individualization, and guide future training and research.

Martha Jeffery, BSc, BA (Hons), Cert MRCSLT, HCPC, is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering  in London, UK and she has worked there since 2013.  She started her career as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2008, and before then she had an earlier life in conference organizing and then banking. At the Michael Palin Centre she works with children and young people who stammer and their families, carrying out assessments and delivering therapy individually and in groups.  She also has a smaller caseload of adults who stammer. She is a co-cordinator of the Michael Palin Centre’s training programme, which delivers 12 core courses that range from therapy programmes such as Palin PCI, to using psychological approaches such as Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy with people who stammer.  The Centre’s training courses reach over 600  speech and language therapists globally each year, which reaches an estimated 6000 children who stammer worldwide annually.  Martha also devises and delivers training programmes - most recently a one-day course on Cluttering.  The third strand of Martha’s work at The Michael Palin Centre, is contributing to their research programme and she will be talking about the research project she is currently working on today.

Martha has attended additional training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and has an Advanced Certificate in Solution Focused Brief Therapy from BRIEF (London)’s year-long programme.  She is co-author of Solution Focused Brief Therapy with Children and Young People who Stammer and their Parents: A Practical Guide from the Michael Palin Centre (2024) with Ali Berquez.  She is not a person who stammers, but she is married to a person who stammers and is mother to two children - one whose stammer resolved and one whose stammer has continued.