Stop the Summer Slide: How SM Summer Camps can Support Students
There are several modalities of treatment available to support kids with selective mutism in finding their brave voice and thriving at home, in school, and in their communities. Among these, intensives have emerged as an excellent way to help kids make big gains in a short period of time, which is valuable at any stage of their journey. This article provides parents with an overview of recent empirical research published about intensive group behavioral treatment (IGBT) in the form of summer camps for selective mutism, as well as insight into the camps offered by Thriving Minds.
2019 - Results of the first controlled trial to study the efficacy of intensive group behavioral treatment for elementary school-aged children were published (Cornacchio et al.)
In this study, IGBT consisted of child-focused intervention Monday through Friday (9 am – 3 pm) and parent training Monday through Thursday (3–5 pm). The 29 children (ages 5-9) were divided into classes with similar-age peers, each led by a “teacher” who was a masters-level student clinician with SM experience. Each child was assigned their own individual counselor. Participation in the group intensive was associated with high parent satisfaction four weeks later, with 96% of parents rating the quality of treatment as excellent and 100% of parents indicating they would participate in an intensive again. Furthermore, significant decreases in SM severity, social anxiety, and overall anxiety, as well as significant increases in overall functioning and verbal behavior in home and social settings, were noted between pre-treatment baseline scores and post-treatment follow up scores. In fact, 46% of the children who participated in the intensive (some of whom also engaged in supplementary treatment afterwards) no longer met criteria for SM eight weeks into the following school year!
2022 - Results of a study exploring the summer 2019 Confident Kids Camp as treatment for SM were published (Haggerty et al.)
Confident Kids Camp, similarly to the IGBT model in the previous study, consisted of child-focused treatment Monday through Friday (9:20 am – 3 pm) and two hours of parent training daily. During camp, the 25 participants (ages 4-11) engaged in age-appropriate psychoeducation, goal-setting, and speaking practices/exposures of increasing difficulty, all of which were occurring within the context of fun activities in a classroom or community environment. According to counselor ratings of behavior, 96% of the campers experienced significant decreases in their anxiety over the course of the week. According to parent ratings, 68% of campers demonstrated significant improvement in speaking behaviors at post-treatment or at 3-month follow-up.
2024 - Results of an open trial to study the effectiveness of intensive group behavioral treatment for older children were published (Kupferberg et al.)
Given the research focus to date on younger kids with selective mutism, this study explored the use of IGBT for 16 older kids with SM (ages 10-17). The general structure of the intensive mirrored that of previous studies, with developmental adaptations to make interventions age appropriate. According to averages of parent- and self-reports, a significant decrease in SM symptoms was observed at 2-month and 5-month follow-up compared to pre-treatment baselines. Participants also reported a significant improvement in their social skills and self-efficacy from pre-treatment to 5-month follow-up.
Conclusions
These recent studies provide empirical data to demonstrate the life-changing benefits of participation in IGBT for youth with selective mutism. Summer camp attendees ranged from 4 to 17 years old, included kids from all across the country, and hailed from a diverse range of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Several participants also had co-occurring anxiety, mood, and/or developmental disorders along with selective mutism. Given the barriers to treatment access and pervasive impact of SM symptoms on overall functioning, SM camps are one of the best treatment options available for families from all walks of life who want to help their child face challenges head on and find their brave voice.
Here at Thriving Minds, we’ve been running Confident Kids Camp (CKC), an annual 5-day summer intensive for 5-18-year-olds in the beginning/intermediate stages of their bravery journey, for over 10 years. This year we’re expanding our reach by also offering Confident Kids Advanced Camp (CKaC), a 3-day intensive for 5-8-year-olds who are a little further along in the treatment process. If you’re interested in participation or more information about CKC or CKaC, click here!