Gerald Maguire, MD, Discusses Stuttering and STARS

When Psychiatric Times spoke with Gerald Maguire, MD, he emphasized that progress in stuttering care will require teamwork across disciplines, especially psychiatry.

“I believe stuttering will be unlike other conditions that we treat in that it’s going to take a village,” he told Psychiatric Times. “It will take individuals who understand medicine, people who understand talk therapy, speech therapy, working as a team.”

Maguire, who has grappled with stuttering, is director of residency training and chair of psychiatry at College Medical Center in Long Beach, California, and founder of the Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS). With the support of a grateful patient, he launched the nonprofit to advance neuroscience and treatment efforts. “We’ve been able to raise just over $10 million recently to support our goal, which is to advance neuroscience research and therapies to help people who stutter.”

Stuttering, Maguire said, is “a neurologic condition that affects over 1% of all individuals.” In spite of this, he explained there are no FDA-approved therapies.

The consequences of stuttering can be devastating, he said. “Unfortunately, kids often are bullied. Individuals with stuttering in adulthood are significantly discriminated against. Think about how almost every job interview involves verbal communication skills.”

He argued that a greater understanding of neuroscience could shift public perception. “When we understand the neurology, the neuroscience behind something and understanding grows, stigma goes down and acceptance goes up,” he said. By educating the health care community, the greater community will follow, which will allow individuals to lead better lives, he added.

Psychiatry can play an important role as part of a collaborative effort to support patients with stuttering, Maguire said, adding more than 80% of patients with a stutter also have social anxiety. “We're learning more and more that we can have coexistence not only of social anxiety, but of depression and ADHD,” he told Psychiatric Times. “The key is to understand what treatments may make the underlying stuttering worse, and how best we can treat the underlying depression, anxiety, and attention issues.”

STARS continues to build education and research opportunities, including CME programs and regional events. “Our goal is to provide hope for those people who stutter,” Maguire told Psychiatric Times. “As a person who stutters, I’m glad I’m able to be afforded this opportunity to help my community.”

Psychiatric Times will be covering the STARS Inaugural Education and Research Symposium being held on September 13, 2025, in Dana Point, California.