Intensive Treatment for Selective Mutism

While years of research have found typical therapy (weekly sessions in a clinical setting) to be beneficial in treating Selective Mutism, many practitioners have noticed a missing component - generalizing these gains to the school setting in an intensive manner.  Dr. Aimee Kotrba is proud to bring an intensive camp setting to the Michigan area.  This intensive treatment allows 30 hours of effective treatment to be provided in a week versus the typical treatment of 1 hour per week.  Thus, children with Selective Mutism can "get better" faster!

• More rapid improvements and better generalization of gains to school setting than traditional therapy

• Cost effective - half the cost of 30 hours of traditional therapy!

• Simulated classroom environment provides your child with a jump-start into the upcoming school year!

• Fun community field trips allow practice in real-world environments

• One-on-one behavioral therapy, group therapeutic techniques, and parent training to empower parents to continue brave work after camp is over

• Access to an expert for out-of-town families - approximately 50% of families attending CKC are from out-of-state.

  Confident Kids Camp is an intensive, behaviorally-based intervention for kids with Selective Mutism that focuses on generalizing speech outside of the clinic setting and directly toward the school setting. Classrooms will be divided by age, with ages for camp ranging from 4 years old to 18 years old. Younger children may be considered if they are toilet trained. Parents do not attend with children.
  
  Your child will have the opportunity to "practice" being brave numerous times with numerous new adults and children, but under controlled, structured conditions that encourage talking. The summer camp is specifically held right before the beginning of a new school year, as to generalize these gains into the classroom setting of the child.

  A typical day at camp includes:

• Morning meeting time or circle time

• Arts and crafts

• Peer play or group interaction

• Show-and-tell or oral presentations

• Lunchtime in a simulated cafeteria

• Field trips

• Recess

• Other classroom activities

  As noted before, each activity is seen as an opportunity to practice being "brave," decrease anxiety, and increase verbal communication and engagement with both peers and adults.
  
  Not only does the camp provide individualized treatment for children, but "parent training" is also included in the price of the camp. Each morning, parents will have the opportunity to practice in a training session with Dr. Kotrba that will teach strategies to successfully decrease your child's anxiety and increase his or her communication. Although not a requirement, it is a real benefit for camper's parents.

  The initial 60-minute diagnostic intake interview and consultation (parents only) with a psychotherapist from our staff who is an expert in Selective Mutism.  

  • Lead-in sessions with a Selective Mutism therapist and the camp “counselor” (a pre-requisite of camp attendance).

  • 30 hours of therapy with an individual counselor providing customized treatment.

  • Field trips and activities associated with camp. 

  • Daily parent training and live parent coaching during the lunch hour of camp.

  In terms of cost-effectiveness, the intensive treatment model of CKC allows for 30 hours of intervention in 5 days, instead of 30 hours of treatment in 30+ weeks of typical psychotherapy.  Additionally, 30 weeks of typical therapy would cost over $5,500 in comparison to $3,000 for CKC.  As a supplement to one-on-one therapy this is an excellent investment.  But most important, intensive summer therapy camps have been shown to provide quick, effective treatment that generalizes well to the school setting.

  For fundraising ideas- see our page of suggestions

  A deposit will be necessary to secure a slot in Confident Kids Camp.

Directors of Confident Kids Camp

I thought the parent sessions with Dr. Kotrba were really helpful. We have been through weekly therapy as well as an intensive - and I still learned a lot. The advanced vs "regular" tracks and the opportunities to interact with other parents/ask questions were really helpful - and I really liked that you sat us next to parents of "similar aged" children, it was a great way to meet other parents. I joked to my husband that at times I felt it was "confident parents camp" because the advice, feedback and techniques I learned during camp helped to boost MY confidence! This is a HUGE deal and something I did not expect to take away from camp - but is greatly appreciated because we are the ones who will be helping our kids navigate the world day-to-day.

- CKC Parent

I think its a wonderful camp- you went from a very quiet Monday to a very loud Friday....you went from parents being a little anxious to parents sharing their successes on the parent Facebook page when they got home:) Every parent went home with a different baseline to start working at:) Each of us went home with more confident kids! Thank you for being amazing- every time we experience your work our live changes for the better! Please keep doing your work! It is life changing!

- CKC Parent

We can't speak highly enough of CKC. Life changing therapy happened during the week for our girl and we are blown away. We were (as many parents probably are) concerned that she would not be verbal at all during her fade in and we'd end up being told that it wasn't the right time for her to be at camp and she needed more work ahead of time and then to see her succeed in her fade in and then the dramatic growth during the week was incredible. The care for her and our family that everyone from the top down showed during the week was sincere and we so appreciated it. Unfortunately we don't have access to any local outpatient therapy options within a 4 hour radius of our home, so camp therapy was our best option for helping our daughter and as something that's really jump-starting her working on her SM, I cannot imagine a better start. I could go on and on about how impactful this camp was, but, sincerely - thank you. It has and will continue to dramatically change my the life of my daughter for the better. We are so grateful.

- CKC Parent

If you have additional questions, please email Director Dr. Aimee Kotrba at akotrba@thrivingminds.info. Please include your name, email, phone number, and any questions you might have! We look forward to hearing from you!