Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W. has treated over 10,000 individuals of all ages with social anxiety. This includes countless numbers of SM sufferers of all ages. He has been featured extensively in the media including the first selective mutism segment on national television in 1988.

Treatment integrates both “technique” and “core” work. The therapeutic objective is to resolve the core issues as SM is both social phobia and a specific variation of OCD.

Treatment for SM children is parent-based. Parents learn an empowering strategy and are, in essence, taught, by Jonathan, to be the therapists. This process is based on the clinical reality that parents typically have much more influence with the child than a therapist.

Parents are presented with a dynamic and multi-dimensional perspective of the problem and are oriented to the domains of behavior, cognition, emotion, and physiology.

The next step is parent team building. Parents identify the pattern of “enabling” that is present and then learn a methodical, step by step methodology of “empowering”. This includes the learning of non-enabling behavioral strategies concurrent with a “processing” methodology; the goal of which is to help the child identify thoughts and feelings.

After certain levels of therapeutic success are attained the empowering strategy is integrated into the classroom. Pharmaceutical intervention is as needed.

Sessions with Jonathan are $195 for 30 minutes. In the initial phase of treatment sessions are weekly. As the learning curve becomes productive and treatment objectives are attained sessions become less frequent.