Behavioral therapy (e.g., contingency management, shaping, hierarchical exposure) is currently the most evidence-based approach to treating Selective Mutism (SM). However, access, cost, scheduling, and implementation competency are barriers to traditional behavioral therapy. Disruptive innovations are novel delivery formats designed to address the barriers of traditional therapy to improve treatment access and cost-efficiency. Brief, or intensive, interventions are a disruptive innovation to traditional therapy because they have fewer sessions during a short-term time period, and literature suggests they are as effective for treating anxiety disorders as typical treatment. However, no literature exists for exploring intensive interventions as a SM treatment. This study assessed the feasibility of an intensive summer day camp intervention for SM by exploring the acceptability, integrity, and effectiveness (i.e., single-case replicated AB design) of a summer camp consisting of a 5-day behavioral therapy for 25 children with SM. Caregiver-rated Treatment Evaluation Questionnaire- Parent (TEQ-P) and family interviews suggest families perceive intensive summer day camp as an acceptable intervention approach to treat SM but are less likely to endorse satisfaction with effectiveness (TEQ-P) by the end of camp. Additionally, results reveal that counselors and parents implement SM behavioral therapy during camp with impressive integrity (>90%) after receiving training about SM behavioral therapy from a SM expert clinician. ITSSIM effect size calculations of counselor-rated DBRs revealed reductions in anxiety during camp for 18 (72%) campers, though non-significant caregiver-rated changes on the SCARED were observed. ITSSIM effect size calculations did not reveal significant changes in speaking behaviors at posttreatment for most campers; however, RCI calculations indicate significant caregiver-rated improvements in speaking behaviors at three-month follow-up for nine out of 14 (64.29%) campers. This pilot feasibility study is the first to investigate intensive summer day camp as a treatment approach for SM and implications for future research are discussed.
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