How To Find A Treating Professional

Finding A Treating Professional Who Can
Work With A Child With
Selective Mutism

There are few providers who may have specific expertise in SM. However, as SM is a form of childhood anxiety, it can also be helpful to look for providers who can treat childhood anxiety (i.e. using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral approaches) and who may have a familiarity with SM. Below are examples of how to do this (these recommendations are specific to the USA but can be generalized to agencies in other countries):

  1. Google your state’s Department of Mental Health or Department of Behavioral Health (it may be called something different in different areas). Locate where it may list either treatment options or a contact number that you can call to get a list of state/region mental health agencies. Once you have a list of agencies, call each agency and ask about whether they have providers who can treat SM/child anxiety.
  2. Look up the email/phone number for your state’s psychological association. It is usually called the (STATE NAME) Psychological Association. Ask if there is a way to find out if any of their members could treat a child with SM/child anxiety. 
  1. Identify several hospitals in your state/region. Look up if they have a psychiatric outpatient department and call the intake number to see if they have any providers who can treat SM/child anxiety. 
    • Also, when contacting hospitals, ask about other professionals who could treat SM such as speech pathologists or social workers and how to contact those departments.
  1. Contact your local speech/language/hearing association. Similar to above, ask if there is a way to find out if they know of providers who can treat SM.
  1. Identify and contact universities who have any of the following: 
    • Clinical psychology graduate programs, social work graduate programs, or speech pathology programs. Often, universities may have a clinical center for one or more of the above programs and there may be graduate students who would be qualified to treat SM with supervision. 
  1. Identify behavior analysts in your areas. Go to www.bacb.com, click ‘find a registrant’ and enter a zip code. 
  2. Contact your insurance company and ask for a list of covered providers in your area who can treat SM/child anxiety.