Article Abstract: Selective Mutism

"Selective mutism is a childhood disorder of interpersonal communication where a child fails to speak in specific situations where speaking is expected. The overwhelming anxiety these children experience in certain settings can be countervailed by the creation of a safe therapeutic milieu. Children speak volumes through their silence. Children can be silent for many reasons. Hardy (2005) explained the sharp distinction between children choosing to remain quiet versus being silenced.

Some young children remain quiet because they are timid and shy or anxious which in extreme cases can lead to selective mutism. These children can be helped to find their voice with gentle encouragement and by creating a relaxed natural context for them to speak.

Some children may speak loudly but feel silenced because no one is listening anymore. Angry children believe they have to be louder and louder because they don't feel they are being heard. With these children, creating a safe place and time within the family for them to speak and more importantly to be heard can dramatically decrease their anger and acting-out behavior.

Other children are silenced because it is not safe for them to speak. Silencing of victims is a core dynamic of oppression of all forms. Sheer terror can literally shut down the neurobiological mechanisms in the brain that underpin speech. Children of terror may not be able to express such events orally. They can, however, be helped to find a different 'voice.'

Finally, children can be silenced by the shame and stigma of their traumatization that renders them voiceless. This chapter explores these forms of silencing of children and ways to help them find their voice."

If sitting up straight can change your attitude or mood and if your good mood can put a spring in your step, does it matter which comes first? Does temporal order matter in this cause and effect relationship? If terror shuts down speech centers of the brain, then what does speaking out do for the brain and its healing? Gabor Mate references a study that shows that married women live longer if they speak up in their marriage (I'll track down the specifics of the study for you later). Using our voice vs. remaining oppressed, the difference is literally a matter of life and death. How's that for hyperbole?

From: A spectrum of dynamic forces that silence children, Crenshaw, David A. and Lee, Jennifer in Crenshaw, David A. (2008), Reprinted 2010 Child and adolescent psychotherapy: Wounded spirits and healing paths. (pp. 107-121). Lanham, MD, US: Jason Aronson. ix, 167 pp. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)