Selective Mutism Association International Annual Conference 2026
September 25, 2026 @ 8:00 am – September 26, 2026 @ 5:00 pm Eastern Time
Conference Information
The Selective Mutism Association’s annual conference will be on Friday, September 25 (full day) and Saturday, September 26 (half day) this year in lively, historic, Boston, MA! The SMA conference is cosponsored by the Boston Child Study Center and Boston University CARD Center. We hope you can join us in person to connect with our community! It will be a wonderful time of gathering to learn the latest in evidence-based information, support one another, and connect with parents and professionals. While we hope you will be able to join us in person, for those who are unable to join us in Boston, SMA will offer a limited recorded bundle of conference presentations for purchase. The 2026 conference will offer the following registration options:
| In-Person Conference (Please note: everyone is welcome to attend in person; however, there is no specific live programming geared toward Individuals who currently have SM at the in-person conference) |
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| Limited Conference Recording Bundle for caregivers/professionals |
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| Recording Bundle for Individuals with Selective Mutism (ages 17 and older) |
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Keynote Address: Practical Approaches to Treating Youth Anxiety: Bridging Research and Treatment, Philip C. Kendall, Ph.D., ABPP
Philip C. Kendall, PhD, ABPP was raised in Merrick, New York and currently resides in Ardmore, Pennsylvania where he and his deceased spouse, Sue, raised the two sons, Mark and Reed. Dr. Kendall is an avid NY Times crossword puzzler and plays basketball twice a week. He enjoys yardwork and the opportunity to spend time in the ocean and with his family.
Phil’s undergraduate education was completed at Old Dominion University and his doctorate in clinical psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Kendall interned at the Palo Alto VA hospital. In 1977 he took his first academic appointment in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Phil relocated to Direct the Clinical Program at Temple University, in Philadelphia. Soon after relocating to Temple Phil opened the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic (CAADC), which has been in operation as a research-clinical service for 40 years.
Dr. Kendall is currently Distinguished University Professor at Temple University and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University. His CV includes over 25 books, treatment manuals and workbooks, and with over 800 scholarly publications, most in our field’s leading journals. Throughout his work, Phil has applied rigorous experimental designs, and with his prolific scholarly writing on clinical research methodology, he has elevated the work of other psychologists seeking to evaluate treatment methods.
One of his treatment programs (e.g., Coping Cat) has been translated into numerous languages. Phil was among the very first to emphasize and articulate the critical importance of applying developmental science to treatment development, and to ensure clinical methods were compatible with children’s cognitive and socio-emotional competencies. After other scholars reviewed the literature, Coping Cat was subsequently given the elite designation of an “empirically supported treatment.”
Dr. Kendall has had over 35 years of uninterrupted grant support from various agencies (e.g., NIMH; NICHD; MacArthur). He placed among an elite handful of the “Most Highly-Cited” individuals in all of the social and medical sciences (top 1%). His recent H Index is 163.
Dr. Kendall has garnered numerous awards. He won the inaugural Research Recognition Award from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, was awarded the Aaron T. Beck Award for “Significant and Enduring Contributions,” and was honored by the Society for the Science of Clinical Psychology with their Lawrence H. Cohen Outstanding Mentor Award, both in 2019. He was honored by ABCT, an association in which he has been active his entire career, with their Career/Lifetime Achievement Award and by APA with the 2025 Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology.
Dr. Kendall is a clinical scientist, teacher/mentor, and leader. He is known for encouraging rigorous methodology (studies with “methodological niceties”), creative and integrative approaches to mental health services (e.g., the use of youth workbooks as part of mental health services), and commitment to graduate mentoring (proud of his many former graduate students who have gone forth and done great work). An active folder on his desktop is a list of former students and their current affiliation.
Date and Location
Hilton Boston Park Plaza
50 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 426-2000
SMA’s annual conference offers tracks for professionals, caregivers, and individuals with SM (ages 17 and older, recorded format only). We would love to see you for our Mix n’ Mingle connection time on Friday evening after the conference sessions. Further conference details including information about continuing education, available scholarships, and hotel booking information is coming soon. We encourage you to make your hotel reservations as early as possible in order to get the lowest rates and best availability.
REGISTRATION COMING SOON
Special Note to all Individuals with SM:
SMA recognizes that resources for older individuals who have SM are scarce and thus, for individuals with SM (ages 17 and older), SMA will continue to offer the Individuals with SM track for FREE! Session titles and descriptions will be released in June 2026. This track will only be offered in a recording format, not a face-to-face format. Recordings will be available until January 31, 2027. Continuing education will not be offered for this track. Please note, that individuals who register for this track will not have access to the professional and caregiver-friendly tracks that are offered virtually. For those registrants who would like access to the professional/caregiver-friendly virtual option, you will need to register for that bundle as well.
Scholarships Available
We are excited to offer a limited number of need-based scholarships for the upcoming SMA conference. We are offering 2 types of scholarships:
Caregivers/Individuals with SM (who would like to attend in-person)
https://forms.gle/LcJkPsA6ARCtitB68
BIPOC Professionals or Professionals who serve underrepresented/BIPOC communities:
https://forms.gle/tuADfqm1RsiY4abE7
If interested and in need, please complete the form for the specific type of scholarship for which you would like to be considered. As part of the form you will be required to give a statement of need as well as answer several other questions related to the scholarship.
Please note: All scholarship submissions must be received by midnight ET on August 1, 2026. Eligible participants will be entered into a drawing, from which scholarship recipients will be selected. All recipients of the scholarships, as well as all who submitted, will be notified of their application status by August 10, 2026. Please do not register for the conference until you have been notified by SMA about your scholarship status.
Scholarship recipients can chose either to attend the face-to-face conference in Boston, or choose to apply their scholarship toward the purchase of the limited recording presentation bundle.
Please note: scholarship is for registration fees only. Travel fees are not included in scholarship award.
SMA is intending to rotate in-person conferences with fully virtual conferences in the coming years.
Email conference inquiries to Lisa Kovac at info@selectivemutism.org.
