Course Overview
Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder in which the child or teen is unable to speak in certain social situations despite having the ability to both understand and use language. It causes social distress and disrupts functioning, and is usually treatable by cognitive-behavioral interventions.
The workshop presents a clinical picture of children with selective mutism, considering how it is caused, common characteristics of children with SM and how it can be effectively treated by therapists, parents and teachers.
The workshop includes:
- Diagnosing SM: How SM presents in the classroom or kindergarten; early signs of SM.
- Short videos illustrating characteristics and treatment methods of SM
- Etiology: genetic factors, characteristic traits, comorbid disorders, environmental factors that act as triggers for SM, maintaining factors.
- Therapy: we will go through components of therapy which is integrative – including therapists, parents and teachers. We will discuss preventative interventions and high-risk populations.
- Older children and teens: therapy for young people, differential characteristics and prognosis of teenagers with SM.
- Guidance for parents of children with SM
- Guidance and behavior shaping schedules for teachers
- Overview of up to date research on treating SM
- Discussion with the workshop participants about their experience with children who have SM.
Ruth Perednik
An English-born Israeli psychologist, Ruth Perednik is a pioneer in the field of selective mutism (SM), and has specialized in the treatment of children with SM and anxiety disorders for over 25 years. During this time, she developed an effective and empowering treatment for selective mutism based on cognitive-behavioral techniques, and has taught and written about the treatment widely. She recently gave a TEDx talk in China. Head of both municipal and private clinics, she conducts workshops and classes for psychologists, mental health professionals, teachers and for families of children with the disorder.
Perednik is the author of "The Selective Mutism Treatment Guide: Manuals for Parents, Teachers and Therapists. Still Waters Run Deep" in which she outlines her treatment method in which teachers, parents and therapists are viewed as potential therapeutic agents of change in the process of helping the child with SM to overcome his difficulties. (The book is available in English, Hebrew, and Chinese)
