Role of Play-based Intervention in Managing Selective Mutism in a Young Child: A Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/jcshd.6046.2024Keywords:
selective mutism, play theraphy, defocused communication, case reportAbstract
The available literature on play-based intervention for young children with selective mutism is limited. This case report describes the use of play therapy for a 6-year-old girl with selective mutism. The therapist used a child-centred play approach to establish rapport and engage in defocused communication and gradually introduced more directive play as part of stimulus fading. The improved score on the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ) indicated an increased frequency of verbalisation in various social settings. This case study suggests that play-based intervention provided a safe and engaging environment for young children with selective mutism to facilitate habituation to verbalise in social situations. This case report provides insights into the benefits of incorporating play therapy for young children with selective mutism.
References
American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR™). Arlington, VA.
Bergman, R. L., Keller, M. L., Piacentini, J., & Bergman, A. J. (2008). The development and psychometric properties of the selective mutism questionnaire. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37(2), 456-464. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410801955805
Byrd, R., Christensen, T., & Luke, C. (2020). Play Therapy. In Counseling Children and Adolescents (pp. 257-276). Routledge.
Cochran, N. H., Nordling, W. J., & Cochran, J. L. (2022). Child-Centered Play Therapy: A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Relationships with Children. Taylor & Francis.
Driessen, J., Blom, J. D., Muris, P., Blashfield, R. K., & Molendijk, M. L. (2020). Anxiety in children with selective mutism: a meta-analysis. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51, 330-341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00933-1
Fernandez, K. T. G., & Sugay, C. O. (2016). Psychodynamic play therapy: A case of selective mutism. International Journal of Play Therapy, 25(4), 203–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000034
Glover, G., & Landreth, G. L. (2015). Child‐centered play therapy. Handbook of Play Therapy, (pp. 93–118).
Halfon, S., Doyran, M., Türkmen, B., Oktay, E. A., & Salah, A. A. (2021). Multimodal affect analysis of psychodynamic play therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 31(3), 313-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2020.1839141
Heyne D. (2022). Developmental issues associated with adolescent school refusal and cognitive-behavioral therapy manuals. Zeitschrift fur Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie, 50(6), 471–494. https://doi.org/10.1024/1422-4917/a000881
Hipolito, G., Pagnamenta, E., Stacey, H., Wright, E., Joffe, V., Murayama, K., & Creswell, C. (2023). A systematic review and meta‐analysis of nonpharmacological interventions for children and adolescents with selective mutism. JCPP Advances, 3, e12166. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12166
Kearney, C. A., & Rede, M. (2021). The heterogeneity of selective mutism: A primer for a more refined approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 700745. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700745
Kovac, L. M., & Furr, J. M. (2019). What should teachers know about selective mutism in early childhood? Early Childhood Education Journal, 47, 107-114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-018-0905-y
Landreth, G. L. (2012). Play therapy: The art of the relationship. Brunner-Routledge.
McDaniel, K. (2021). The silent response: Selective mutism. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 13(3), 45–49.
Muris, P. & Ollendick, T.H. (2021). Current challenges in the diagnosis and management of selective mutism in children, Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 14, 159–167, https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S27453
Powell, S., & Dalley, M. (1995). When to intervene in selective mutism: The multimodal treatment of a case of persistent selective mutism. Psychology in the Schools, 32(2), 114–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6807(199504)32:2<114::AID-PITS2310320207>3.0.CO;2-B
Rudy, B. M., Zavrou, S., Johnco, C., Storch, E. A., & Lewin, A. B. (2017). Parent-led exposure therapy: a pilot study of a brief behavioral treatment for anxiety in young children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 2475–2484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0772-
Schwenck, C., Gensthaler, A., Vogel, F., Pfeffermann, A., Laerum, S., & Stahl, J. (2022). Characteristics of person, place, and activity that trigger failure to speak in children with selective mutism. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(9), 1419-1429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01777-8
Sim, H. O. (2012). A case study on sand play therapy for a girl suffering from selective mutism. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 33(1), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.5723/KJCS.2012.33.1.41
Vogel, F., Reichert, J., & Schwenck, C. (2022). Silence and related symptoms in children and adolescents: a network approach to selective mutism. BMC Psychology, 10(1), 271. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00956-9
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), Harcourt Assessment
Wonders, L. L. (2020). Play therapy for children with selective mutism. In H. G. Kaduson, D. Cangelosi, & C. E. Schaefer (Eds.), Prescriptive play therapy: Tailoring interventions for specific childhood problems (pp. 92–104). The Guilford Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
4) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
5) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
