Assessing Selective Mutism: Tools for Gathering Information, Making Diagnoses, and Monitoring Progress

In the mental health field, it is widely acknowledged that good treatment stems from good assessment (De Los Reyes and Langer, 2018). Even when using empirically supported interventions, the effectiveness of a treatment plan for a particular individual may be limited by the nature and quality of the data used to develop it. While many assessment tools focused on youth anxiety broadly have been published and widely studied (Etkin, Shimshoni, Lebowitz, and Silverman, 2021; Etkin, Lebowitz, and Silverman, 2021), there are far fewer measures specifically designed to evaluate symptoms of selective...Read more mutism.

This panel, which will be geared towards treating professionals, brings together four experts, each of whom has developed a selective mutism-specific assessment tool. Dr. Lindsay Bergman will present on the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (Bergman, Keller, Piacentini, and Bergman, 2008), a parent-report measure which has widely been used in research and clinical settings. Dr. Angelika Gensthaler will present on the Frankfurt Scales of Selective Mutism (Gensthaler et al., 2020). The FSSM also is a parent-report questionnaire; it includes a diagnostic scale, which can differentiate between selective mutism and social anxiety, as well as a severity scale, which reflects impairment caused by selective mutism symptoms. Dr. Elisa Shipon Blum will discuss the Social Anxiety Communication Inventory (SCAI) and Dr. Steven Kurtz will discuss the Selective Mutism Behavioral Observation Task (SM-BOT), a structured, play-based assessment, in which a child’s ease of speaking to a parent in a new setting, to a parent in the presence of a stranger, and directly to a stranger is evaluated.

Panelists will provide an overview of each measure, including the research base as relevant, and discuss how treating professionals can incorporate these tools into their clinical practice. Less...

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Learning Objectives

  • Describe how to use four different instruments in the assessment of selective mutism.
  • Determine which SM assessment tools are most appropriate to use in different clinical contexts.
  • List three limitations of current methods for assessing selective mutism.
  • Explain how to use SM assessment measures to monitor progress throughout treatment.

Learning Levels

  • Intermediate

Monday, May 01, 2023

Live Interactive Webinar

07:00 PM EDT - 08:30 PM EDT

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EARN 1.5 CE Credit Hours

About the speakers

R. Lindsey Bergman, PhD

R. Lindsey Bergman, PhD

Lindsey Bergman is the Director of Intensive Outpatient Programming at Wavemind Clinic in Los Angeles, CA and has been the recipient of federal grants for the study of selective mutism. She conducted the first randomized controlled study of behavioral treatment for SM and authored dozens of peer-reviewed research articles and chapters on selective mutism as well as pediatric anxiety and OCD. Dr. Bergman was on the faculty of the UCLA Psychiatry Department for over 20 years where she conducted clinical research and developed training curricula for psychiatry fellows and psychology interns.
Dr. Angelika Gensthaler

Dr. Angelika Gensthaler

Angelika Gensthaler is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and researcher on Selective Mutism, currently working as a lecturer, supervisor and in the training of child and adolescent psychotherapists.
Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP

Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP

Founder and President, Kurtz Psychology
Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP specializes in assessing and treating child anxiety, such as selective mutism and social phobia, as well as externalizing behaviors, such as ADHD and oppositionality. Dr. Kurtz is the original developer of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Adapted for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM), an empirically supported therapy for selective mutism now used worldwide and created the renowned Mighty Mouth Kids and Brave Buddies intensive SM treatment programs.

He is a Global Trainer in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). As an expert commentator, he has appeared on numerous programs addressing child mental health, including NBC's Today, CBS's The Early Show and PBS's Keeping Kids Healthy and was featured in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's ADD & Lovin' It. He is a Board Certified Specialist in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology and volunteers time in the leadership of numerous organizations such as the Selective Mutism Association.
Elisa Shipon-Blum, DO

Elisa Shipon-Blum, DO

Dr.
Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum or Dr. E as her clients know her is the President and Director of the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Related Disorders Treatment Center (SMart Center). She is also the host of the #1 podcast of Selective Mutism, Unspoken Words. She is a board certified physician who specializes in Selective Mutism. Over the past 30 years, Dr. E has helped thousands of children, teens, and adults from around the world overcome Selective Mutism. Notably, the inspiration of her work comes from her daughter, Sophia, who suffered from and overcame Selective Mutism.

She is the Founder and Director Emeritus of the Selective Mutism Association (SMA). She is also the Director of the Selective Mutism Research Institute (SMRI), a foundation established to study Dr. Shipon-Blum’s theories and treatment methodologies on Selective Mutism.
As an Osteopathic physician, Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum focuses on the whole person and not a symptom. She views SM as a social communication anxiety where mutism is merely a symptom.

Dr. E developed the evidenced-based Social Communication Anxiety Treatment (S-CAT)®. According to Dr. E’s work, The key to an effective treatment plan is understanding factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of SM (The Why’s of SM) as well as understanding an individual’s baseline stage of social communication on the Social Communication Bridge©. Then, working as a team; the treatment professional, parents, and school staff, help the individual build coping skills to combat anxious feelings and to progress across the Social Communication Bridge©. Leveraging her effective S-CAT® program, Dr. E created CommuniCamp™, an intensive in-person group treatment and parent education program for children and parents affected with Selective Mutism, social anxiety, and extreme shyness – with dates all throughout the calendar year.

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