Abstract

PEIXOTO, Ana Cláudia de Azevedo; CAROLI, Andréa Lúcia Guimarães  and  MARIAMA, Silvia Regina. Selective mutism: a case study with interdisciplinary treatment. Rev. bras.ter. cogn. [online]. 2017, vol.13, n.1, pp. 5-11. ISSN 1808-5687.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1808-5687.20170003.

This study is intended to present a case which describes a successful intervention for the anxiety disorder named Selective Mutism in an elementary/middle-school aged girl, by adopting Behavioral-Cognitive Therapy as the base for the therapeutic formulation and intervention. SM is a childhood anxiety disorder, whose main characteristic is the child's refusing to speak with certain people, many times making use of alternative forms of communication and the least use of speech. The case will be described in four phase: participant and developmental history; initial evaluation; therapeutic intervention and treatment evolution, and results. The therapeutic intervention was conducted on a weekly basis, an approximately 60-minute appointment once a week, with interruptions during school vacations. The appointments took place in a private office, as well as in the patient's home and in school contexts. The people who were part of the process were the patient, family members, friends, as well as teachers and school coordinators. The results show evidence that the appropriate therapeutic intervention in partnership with school and psychiatrist have been effective and efficient in aiding this child who has this disorder in the recovery of her speech as a means of communication.

Keywords : Selective Mutism; Behavioral-Cognitive Treatment; Case Study.

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