Getting Ready to Talk: The Treatment of a Mildly Retarded, Selectively Mute Adult

Selective mutism implies hidden motivation for selecting this behavior. In this case study, the manifest presentation of selective mutism was not interpreted as a pathological behavior but as a functional control system which serves a self-protective function for the client. The intervention described avoids the technical potential of getting trapped in a client's control system, which can occur, by not accepting the client's nonverbal behavior. Instead, therapy is directed beyond that system, focusing on the client's strengths that established and maintained that system. The case demonstrates highlighting these strengths so that they may then be used as a major force toward therapeutic change.