(PS9-D80) What Are the Choices for Hearing Their Voices?: A Scoping Review of Treatment Options for Selective Mutism

Collaborative treatment planning strategies have been shown to result in positive treatment process outcomes (e.g., treatment adherence, satisfaction; Fiks & Jimenez, 2010) by centering a patient’s values, preferences, and goals. Such approaches may be especially useful when there are many evidence-based treatment options (or variations within treatment options) available. This is the case for treatments for youth with selective mutism (SM). To facilitate shared decision-making (SDM) for youth with SM, clinicians and families must be informed of the various treatment modalities and packages for SM, as well as the choices that can be made within each approach. This scoping review summarizes the treatments that have been reported in the SM treatment literature and clarifies the choices that are available to clinicians and families at the start of and throughout treatment. A literature search was conducted using relevant terms and databases to identify peer-reviewed articles reporting on SM treatment. This search produced 354 unique results, of which 39 articles written in a language other than English were excluded. An additional 84 results (review articles; letters to editors/responses; articles on mutism unrelated to SM; articles on SM assessment or conceptualization and clinical characteristics that did not discuss treatment) were excluded, leaving 231 results. The literature reflected utilization of primarily behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches. Psychodynamic approaches, systems interventions, and psychopharmacological intervention were also reported in the literature but were less common. Within the reported treatment approaches are various treatment programs (e.g., parent-child interaction therapy adapted for SM, social communication anxiety treatment, video self-modeling; Bork & Bennett, 2020; Cornacchio et al., 2019; Klein et al., 2017), as well as multiple decision points (e.g., individual vs. group therapy, weekly vs. intensive treatment, teacher involvement, home/school/clinic setting, sequencing of treatments). This poster will present the various available treatments and options that clinicians and families may consider in treatment planning. Through communication and knowledge of these options, patients and families can be empowered to voice their preferences and values for treatment and to collaborate in decisions about their care. Furthermore, this scoping review may highlight overlooked areas for inclusion of families in decision-making and can facilitate clinician awareness and utilization of more collaborative practice in treatment planning.