Resources Categories: Families & Individuals

The executive functions are seminal components in children’s development and adjustment. When thinking of child and adolescent disorders, most executive function investigations have focused on excessive behaviors such poor attention control, impulsivity, and aggression. However, the executive functions play a role in anxiety disorders as well.

This webinar will discuss the importance of emphasizing cultural context in our clinical work with youth and families. Then, the cultural formulation interview (CFI) will be described. How to gather culturally relevant information to incorporate into case conceptualization and treatment planning in the context of selective mutism and anxiety will be discussed.

For loving caregivers, it is challenging to see your child in distress. It can be difficult to grapple with the fact that ‘rescuing’ a child from moments of distress can actually do more harm than good. When we make it too easy for an anxious child with selective mutism not to talk, we inadvertently reinforce their habit of avoidance.

The decision to try adding medicine to a treatment plan for your child with Selective Mutism is often a very agonizing one. No parent ever wakes up and says, “Gee, I’d love to give my young child a psychotropic medication today.” Rather you wrestle with the decision. Do we need it? Will there be side effects? Will it hurt my child in the long run? Will it change their personality? How long will they need to be on it?