Looking for adventure?  A personal and professional challenge involving new faces and places? The opportunity to broaden your skill-set as a therapist while enjoying lucrative pay and benefits? It’s time to explore the unique opportunity that is travel therapy jobs.

With the demand for travelers sky rocketing, you can expect to find the right match clinically, culturally, and financially.  Travelers can work in a variety of settings while maintaining tremendous job flexibility. When questioning whether a travel option is a fit for you it is important to deal with the facts.  Below are five common misconceptions concerning travel therapy:

1.) Myth: Permanent therapists have a similar compensation & benefits package in relation to travel therapists.

Reality: The compensation and benefits for a traveler are usually substantially higher than that of a permanent therapist.

2.) Myth: Travelers are obligated to long-term contracts and have little say regarding locations and settings.

Reality: Permanent therapists are often obligated to sign annual contracts to be eligible for relocation and sign-on bonuses.  Travelers are only obligated for 13 weeks while being guaranteed 40 hours with bonus eligibility.

3.) Myth: Working in multiple settings and diverse areas looks bad on your resume.

Reality: Facilities know that travelers are exposed to diverse patient populations and gain significant knowledge from interacting with various clinical teams on each assignment.

4.) Myth: To work as a traveler a therapist must have years of experience.

Reality: The travel option has opened up to young therapists and new graduates.  Working as a traveler can be a wonderful opportunity for those wanting to see a new part of the country while working in multiple settings.  This allows a therapist to find their strengths before settling into a permanent position.

5.) Myth: Travel companies function as 3^rd party head-hunters and are interchangeable in choosing among them.

Reality: Travel therapy companies provide your benefits, pay, and career consultation.  Certain travel companies can provide continuing education credits, housing flexibility, and tuition reimbursement.  It is vital to investigate and find the right fit for you.

If you’re interested in pursuing a travel therapy career, Advanced Medical is a great place to start!

With over 5,000 travel therapy assignments nationwide and a comprehensive network spanning 50 states your options are truly unlimited.

About the Author: With over 15 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Ryan Lantz serves as Marketing Manager and Director for Advanced Medical’s New Graduate Program. Having worked with Advanced Medical since its inception, Ryan currently spends much of his time traveling to universities and tradeshows, touting the benefits of travel therapy jobs and the innovative programs Advanced Medical has to offer newly graduated students in the fields of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology.

If you have a stuttering problem, finding out how to stop stuttering can be a life changing experience. Because this speech disorder affects so many adults and children, in the past few years, there has been a push to discover new information. Much of this information has come from speech therapists and researchers, but many practical suggestions have been offered by those who have managed to stop stuttering. Here are 2 more of their best tips.

Tip #1- Visualize any difficult words in your mind.

For any stutterer, there are words that give them a lot of trouble whenever they try to say them. They’re different for every stutterer. But whether they’re short or long, they are always approached with some apprehension on the part of the stutterer.

One way to defeat these difficult words is to use an easy visualization technique. As you picture the word in your mind, first break it down letter by letter. Then visualize yourself confidently saying the word correctly. Hear what it sounds like in your mind and then try it out loud. Hearing yourself in your mind first will truly help you say it the right way.

It’s a good idea to practice this technique at home so you can quickly run through a difficult word in your mind before saying it out loud during a conversation.

Tip #2 – Practice saying the beginning sounds of difficult words.

The very beginning of a word or sentence is often the hardest part for a stutterer. If you can get past that, you are often okay.

Spend time at home breaking words into parts. You should practice saying each individual part of a word separately until that part flows easily for you. Only then should you try to put the whole word together.

Once you have a word mastered, do the same thing for a short, two or three word sentence. The more you practice the better this will work because you’ll become more confident in how a word should sound. In time, this will become automatic instead of something you have to work at. When that happens, you’ll notice that you speak more fluently and stutter less.

Never give up hope that you will find out how to stop stuttering. In fact, here are two more tips for you to try. These have worked for others.

Is it really possible to stop stuttering? You’ll be encouraged to find out that in most cases the answer is yes. Visit http://www.cureforstuttering.org/ for more information.

If you have a child who stutters there are things you can do to help him or her feel better about themselves. Here are 7 ways to help your stuttering child.

1. Be sure to speak in a slow relaxed manner, pausing often when you talk. When having a conversation with your child, don’t respond right away after he finishes speaking. Instead wait a few seconds before you talk. By speaking in an unhurried manner, you are modeling the right pace.

2. Show your child that you are listening to what he has to say rather than how he is saying it. Watch out that your facial expressions or body language are not showing impatience when he happens to stutter.

Your child will surely pick up on your non verbal expressions and may feel pressured if they seem negative. So avoid glancing at your watch or tapping your fingers when he’s speaking. And maintain eye contact with him so he knows you’re paying attention.

3. Try not to interrupt the flow of what your child is saying by asking a lot of questions or making a lot of comments. Allow him to talk freely about anything he wants to. If he can talk about what interests him, he will probably be more willing to talk more than if he just has to answer questions. The more he can talk without pressure, the better.

4. Everyone in the family should be treated with respect and given a chance to talk and express themselves without getting cut off. If family members are constantly being rushed to finish what they are saying or are being interrupted, you are sending a negative message to your stuttering child. The last thing you want is for a stutterer to be afraid that they can’t get their words out quickly enough.

5. Your child needs to know that you are on her side. So if she tells you that she is getting teased at school because she stutters, arrange to talk to her teacher. You may also want to help her come up with a few ideas of how she can deal with teasing on her own.

6. Always be a good listener. Allow him to talk without completing his sentences, filling in words, or making corrections for words that aren’t said properly. Every conversation should not become a lesson in speaking.

7. Most of all, be sure you are conveying the message that your child is loved for who she is, not for how she talks. There will be times when she feels down on herself. Don’t discount these feelings but explain that everyone has trouble with something at one time or another. Use yourself as an example and relate something that was a problem for you when you were a child.

Here are just some of the ways to help a stuttering child. To find out more and get more information about stuttering in children visit my website at www.cureforstuttering.org.