Speech-language therapy consists of an array of activities that should be well thought of beforehand, and its methods and models of delivery should rely on theoretical facts and empirically-based evidence. In Croatia there is a lack of research on methods and models of practitioners’ work, as well as on factors that influence and guide the structure of therapy. The purpose of this paper was to gain insights into the models of therapy mostly used in work with children with developmental language disorders (DLD). The specific goal was to examine the representation of direct and indirect models and to conduct a correlation study in order to identify factors that guide the preferred choice of model. The analysis was based on the answers to Practitioner Survey (Law et al., 2019c), a questionnaire completed by 80 SLPs in Croatia. Their work experience and sector, as well as the child’s age and type of impairment, were put in correlation with the preferred choice of model. The data were compared with those from other European countries. Results indicate that the direct model still prevails, and that SLPs rarely involve third parties (with parents being the first choice). This is in line with the European data. There is no correlation between the sector of work and the model of service delivery, but a weak negative correlation between more years of experience and the choice of combined models almost reaches significance. There is no correlation between the child’s age and type of impairment, and the preferred choice of model. Low prevalence of indirect model points to the need of additional education of practitioners on its benefits, disadvantages and possibilities of implementation. The lack of correlation between a range of examined variables indicates the need for a broader and more careful exploration of the factors that guide SLP practice.

speech-language therapy, direct and indirect models, Practitioner Survey, comparative analysis.