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One of the biggest challenges in healing for one who is afflicted with social or performance anxiety is negotiating the defense mechanism of detachment. Detachment is the dynamic and process of disconnecting from thoughts, feelings, and behavioral challenges. Detachment is the gateway to avoidance. When you put this dynamic under the microscope so to speak, […]

The carefree days of summer are coming to an end. Outings to the beach, unlimited time with video games, and no homework are much easier to deal with than issues such as a child’s social anxiety, inhibited verbal communication, or social avoidance. Summer is a time that can enable parents’ denial regarding the insidious and […]

Hopefully this short case story will provide insight into selective mutism and performance anxiety. “Debra”, age 30 ,works in the media field for a progressive television network. She entered treatment due to her public speaking performance anxiety. Her panic in speaking situations has created substantial anguish and a challenged mood. She has become overly dependent […]

“Debbie” is a 24 year old athletic blond with hundreds of young men pursuing her on a dating site. She is currently getting her Masters in Special Education. Her mother initiated treatment after Debbie experienced a stress breakdown at the beginning of graduate school. Because of the anxiety episode Debbie withdrew from school for a […]

At age 56, I have been exercising for most of my life; primarily a healthy obsession with aerobic activity. I recently hired a trainer. I told him that my objective was to be able to play basketball a couple of times a week without back and knee pain. Three months later, after a regimen of […]

Toward a Resolution of Selective Mutism: Understanding Obsessive Compulsive “Syndrome” It’s relatively easy to identify the child immersed in a world of verbal inhibition and shutdown. Think about it. The more the child is mute, the more the child stands out in any social environment. This objective reality is in opposition to the child’s belief […]

Selective mutism is a social anxiety disorder characterized by not speaking to specific people or in specific venues. It is a specific variation of obsessive compulsive disorder. “Obsessive” refers to the conscious and non-conscious worrying. “Compulsive” refers to the verbal shutdown. The problem varies in degrees of severity. In addition to children many adolescents and […]

  This is a complex subject about which I can write extensively. My objective with this article is to identify, and begin to organize, mental health issues for the Selective Mutism child within academic environments. “My child is normal at home. It’s school that’s the problem!” When a teacher tells parents that a child doesn’t […]

Mikey age 7, an intellectually gifted child, never spoke in school. The school recommended speech therapy. This proved useless as the problem was selective mutism, which is a very specific form of social and performance anxiety. Ashley’s mother hoped that she would be able to overcome her shyness in kindergarten. When summoned to the school […]

Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W This “tip of the month” is in response to the countless inquiries I receive from well-intentioned school personnel who contact me regarding their concerns about selectively mute students. The content here is based on my clinical experience since 1978 with individuals of all ages who suffered from social anxiety in general, as […]