Celebrating Progress and Success Within Selective Mutism Intervention

May 2024

“Believe in yourself and you can achieve greatness in your life” – Judy Blume

Dear SMA Community,

While exposure practice is a critical component of SM treatment, a child’s belief in their ability to succeed in brave talking also holds great value. Within selective mutism, anxiety tends to convince a child that 1) using words in specific situations will be too hard, scary, or uncomfortable and 2) the child does not have the skills to handle what may happen if they use their words. The anxious brain also tends to fixate on moments of difficulty as evidence to reinforce these negative beliefs instead of celebrating moments of success. Rewiring our anxious brain to focus on brave thoughts is a process that takes time. We can use many strategies to support a child with SM in acknowledging progress and success, to build their belief in themselves in achieving brave goals. A few strategies for parents will be highlighted here.  

• Offer Labeled Praise for Brave Talking. Celebrating success can start with how someone responds when brave talking occurs. Direct, specific, or ‘labeled’ praise that acknowledges a child’s use of words can be an important first step in celebrating success (e.g., “Thank you for using your words to tell me”, “Thanks for sharing with me with Mrs. Potter in the room”, “Thanks for letting me know”). Although the way labeled praise is provided may vary depending on the child’s age (e.g., more subtle praise when speaking with adolescents), acknowledging in the moment when a child uses their words is invaluable.  

• Track Progress Toward Goals. The road to brave talking will likely occur through a series of small speaking goals that gradually increase in expectation over time. Given this gradual process, having ways to track progress is important. Goal tracking helps everyone know where the child began, what goals the child is working on, and the steps the child can take as they progress towards larger talking goals. Additionally, making goal tracking and progress visible can often increase a child’s motivation to continue speaking practice. Progress can be tracked through a variety of formats such as star charts (e.g., the child receives a star for each time they use their brave words), goal charts (e.g., a chart that would highlight the child’s success in meeting their current practice goals), or speaking maps (e.g., visual maps for the child to highlight increased comfort in certain speaking locations or with certain speaking partners). 

• Make Tracking Visual. As previously mentioned, motivation often increases when we see our successes. The more a child can see their success, the more motivated they may become to use their words in new ways. For younger children, this may include strategies such as charting bravery goals or talking successes, or making something interactive where the child has the opportunity to add to their successes (e.g., adding pictures of new peers they spoke with at school into a picture of their classroom, or moving up the steps of their talking goal ladder). For adolescents, writing down successes or graphing out their goal progress over time may be useful.

• Make It Motivating. Choose visual tracking formats that are more meaningful to a child (e.g., using dinosaurs of increasing size to track progress for a child who loves dinosaurs). Understand what motivates each child, and celebrate the child’s success in a special way that helps them acknowledge and feel proud of the brave steps they have taken. Small or big moments of celebration, tailored to the child’s likes and interests, may help motivate them to pursue future speaking goals.

You and your child are putting in such wonderful efforts on the path to building bravery. Although achieving the ultimate goal of speaking may feel of utmost importance, acknowledging success steps along the way, for both your child and yourself, helps everyone believe in the process of continuing to build bravery!

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all strategies, and it is recommended that these varying techniques be discussed with your child’s treating provider before implementation.

Sincerely,
Brittany Bice-Urbach, Ph.D.
SMA Board of Directors