Selective Mutism in children and adolescents

Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder that typically emerges in early childhood. According to DSM-5, the disorder is characterized by the consistent failure to speak in certain social situations, such as school or in public, in contrast to age appropriate speaking behavior in other settings remains, for example at home or with close others. Selective Mutism can severely impair psychosocial functioning in multiple social contexts, and both social and educational development can be influenced considerably. The current lecture aims at providing an overview of the current research results on symptoms of selective mutism, diagnostics, etiology, and treatment approaches.

Prof. Dr. Christina Schwenck is a professor for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology at the University of Giessen, Germany. Dr. Schwenck has studied psychology at the Universities of Würzburg and Madrid and completed her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Würzburg. She worked at the Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy of different University hospitals. She is a trained child and adolescent psychotherapist (specification behavior therapy), a trained supervisor, and she has conducted her training in Parent-Child-Interaction-Therapy for Selective Mutism(PCIT-SM) with Dr. Steven Kurtz, New York City. Her research interests comprise selective mutism, conduct disorder, and children of parents with mental illness.