PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS AND OTHER CLINICIANS: ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF SELECTIVE MUTISM
Curious about our webinar?
Take a quick look at this preview for a glimpse of Dr Elizabeth Woodcock’s insights and the practical strategies you can expect to learn.
Selective Mutism is a condition that severely restricts a child’s capacity for communicating verbally outside the home and typically occurs at the rate of 1 in every 200 children in primary school and much more frequently in preschool-aged children. It is a treatable anxiety disorder but generally requires 1 to 2 years of treatment in order to resolve. An intensive treatment program at preschool/school is an essential part of treatment for most children with Selective Mutism. At the Selective Mutism Clinic, we work closely with the classroom teacher and support staff to help them deliver this program. The classroom teacher is generally the key person required to implement the strategies at school.
This one-day webinar provided to clinicians by Elizabeth Woodcock, Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Selective Mutism Clinic, covers the Assessment and Treatment of Selective Mutism in Children.
The webinar outlines a multidimensional cognitive-behavioural approach to treatment for children with Selective Mutism that involves an intensive school program with skills training for the classroom teacher, all school personnel, the parent(s), and the child. Strategies specific to Selective Mutism treatment that differ from standard CBT for anxiety disorders are highlighted. The complexities and comorbid conditions of Selective Mutism that impact treatment are discussed as well as family factors that need to be addressed.
what's
covered...
- Building participants’ understanding about Selective Mutism in preschool and primary-school aged children
- Epidemiology and aetiology of Selective Mutism
- Assessment of the child at school and in the clinic using clinical interview, clinic observations, questionnaires, and interviews with the classroom teacher
- How to modify typical cognitive-behavioural treatments for anxiety disorders to suit this population
- A 5-stage ‘communication hierarchy’ that underlies the treatment program with various practical goals to use at each stage of communication within the school environment and other social situations
- Factors that make it easier or harder for children with Selective Mutism to communicate (the “Communication changers”)
- Other evidence-based strategies for Selective Mutism such as ‘Sliding In’ and exposure hierarchies
- A teacher-led school treatment program, which includes building the child’s talking with the classroom teacher, generalising their talking to all peers and teachers, and expanding the child’s speech to small groups and whole class situations
- General do’s and dont’s for how all staff should respond to a child with Selective Mutism
- Specific treatment strategies to use at preschool/school and in the classroom including:
- Starting out strategies, including educating all staff about Selective Mutism
- Building and expanding talking with the classroom teacher, including the ‘Sliding In’ strategy
- Helping children communicate in whole-class situations and in front of the class
- Generalising talking to other teachers and staff
- Expanding talking so that it becomes more spontaneous
- Strategies to help a child transition to a new school year and new teacher
- Working with the child and parent in the clinic
- Planning the child’s communication goals in the community
best suited for...
- Psychologists
- Clinical Psychologists
- Speech Pathologists
- Mental Health Nurses
- Social Workers
Choose your viewing option
1
ATTEND A LIVE WEBINAR
Runs in 2027 (date TBC). Price is $400.
2
4-WEEK
ACCESS
The access cost is $350 which provides 4 weeks’ access within 1 business day to the webinar online.
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2
USB
PACKAGE
The price for the USB package (comes in a case) is $449. Free postage Australia-wide or $20 flat rate to the rest of the world.
$449.00Add to cart
