Spreading Hope to Parents of Children with Selective Mutism
When children are unable to speak around certain people or in certain settings, they may have an anxiety disorder called selective mutism (SM).
“Selective mutism can cause significant impairment in a child’s life. It can interfere with kids’ performance at school, both academically and socially. It can prevent kids from asking for help if they need it, like telling the teacher they need to use the bathroom. And it can prevent kids from engaging in many fun activities that require verbal communication, including play dates”, according to Child Mind Institute.
Many experts consider Cognitive Behavior Therapy the gold standard of treatment for children with SM. CBT includes a behavioral approach called “stimulus fading” which is a form of exposure therapy that slowly introduces the client to anxiety-provoking stimulus. “In the context of Selective Mutism, this technique is used to gradually introduce the client to new people, new settings, or larger settings that cause anxiety”, according to Thriving Minds.
Children at SECFTC with a SM diagnosis can benefit from the Adventure-based Psychotherapy Group as it engages children in anxiety-provoking yet fun activities (hiking, rock climbing, rappelling, belaying, knot tying); exposes children to new people and novel settings (the outdoors); encourages brave speaking challenges (learning commands); role-models relaxation techniques (warm-up exercises, deep breathing); allows children to prepare and assist in planning; and have a built-in reward system, positive reinforcement and feedback loop.
Most importantly, the Adventure-based Psychotherapy Group will allow children to learn to confront and tolerate their anxieties at their own pace. As Brave Voice notes, “children need to learn that they can face their fears to overcome them.”
