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In Congress Workshops

Child and adolescent mental health

In-Congress Workshop 23 - Extending Access to Care for Youth with Selective Mutism: Helping All Children Find Their Voice

Friday, June 26, 2026
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM PDT
Location: Yerba Buena Salon 4, B3 Level
Earn 3 Credit
Keywords: Children, Anxiety, PCIT (Parent Child Interaction Therapy)
Recommended Readings: Hipolito, G., Pagnamenta, E., Stacey, H., Wright, E., Joffe, V., Murayama, K., & Creswell, C. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of nonpharmacological interventions for children and adolescents with selective mutism. JCPP Advances, 3(3), e12166. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12166,   Catchpole, R., Young, A., Baer, S., & Salih, T. (2019). Examining a novel, parent child interaction therapyinformed,
behavioral treatment of selective mutism. Journal of anxiety disorders, 66, 102112.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2019.102112,   Hong, N., Herrera, A., Furr, J.M., Georgiadis, C., Cristello, J., Heymann, P., Dale, C., Heflin, B., Silva, K., Conroy K.,
Cornacchio, D., & Comer, J.S. (2022). Remote Intensive Group Behavioral Treatment for Families of Children
with Selective Mutism. Evidence-based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. DOI:
10.1080/23794925.2022.2062688,   ,  
Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which an individual is unable to speak in certain social
situations, such as at school or out in the community, and yet can speak fluently and comfortably in at least
one other setting (e.g., at home; APA, 2022). SM, affecting mostly children, is one of the less common anxiety
disorders, with estimates suggesting it only affects approximately 1% of the population (Bergman et al.,
2002). That said, the COVID-19 pandemic led to decreased social interactions typically held during key
developmental periods that are still coming to light in limited social skills (Breaux et al., 2023) and increased
rates of anxiety disorders in youth (Racine et al., 2021). Thus, the need for professionals to be proficient in
how to address these limited social skills and increased anxiety is paramount. On a positive note, there has
been a significant expansion in the treatment of SM in the past 15 years. Research has shown that behavioral
and cognitive-behavioral methods are effective for reducing anxiety symptoms and increasing verbalization
and comfort across different places, activities, and with other people (e.g., individual, intensive group,
remote, in schools; Catchpole et al., 2019; Cornacchio et al., 2019; Haggerty et al., 2022; Hong et al., 2022).
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for SM (PCIT-SM; Carpenter et al., 2014; Furr et al., 2020) is a behavioral
program that supports caregivers in learning how to enhance their relationship with their child through
positive attention and reinforcement, in addition to learning how to be more effective at prompting for and
directing child speech. This workshop will include didactics focused on psychoeducation about selective mutism
and the basic skills involved in PCIT-SM. Further, this workshop will offer interactive opportunities for
attendees with video clips, modeling, and break-out groups with role plays to practice specific strategies
needed to make this intervention fun, engaging, and motivating for youth (Busman, 2023). We will highlight
the application of content to various PCIT-SM treatment formats (e.g., individual, group, remote, intensive) to
promote the generalization of PCIT-SM skills across different settings (i.e., school, community), cultures, and
backgrounds.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify 3 behavioral strategies (e.g., stimulus fading, shaping, positive reinforcement, parent coaching) used in treating selective mutism
  • Define the Child Directed Interaction (CDI) skills necessary in PCIT-SM
  • Identify the 2 types of questions to use in Verbal Directed Interaction (VDI) with youth with selective mutism
  • Use the PCIT-SM methods in their clinical practice with youth with selective mutism for greater overall care
  • List 3 variations of PCIT-SM that can be provided to youth with selective mutism and their families.
  • Support families and caregivers in learning how to better engage with their children with selective mutism.
  • Describe multiple etiologies related to selective mutism.