A Collaboration Between
Brighter Outlook Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and
The Anxiety Treatment Center of Maryland
While weekly behavioral therapy is beneficial for children with Selective Mutism (SM), intensive treatment options are becoming increasingly common and integrated into the treatment plan due to their robust and efficient results in eliciting change.
We provide evidence-based, specialized therapy support with the explicit goal of building and generalizing speech and social interaction to a wide variety of individuals and situations. Our goal is to increase your child’s confidence and mastery!
Our intensive summer camp provides 30+ hours of treatment in a one-week time period.
Summer (date TBD) 2025
9 am - 2 pm
Monday through Friday
Our experienced co-directors offer over thirty years of combined experience specializing in selective mutism and have been trained at some of the leading institutions in treating child anxiety (NYU Child Study Center, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University). Dr. Raggi has co-developed and co-directed camps for children with selective mutism for the past eight years. As such, program elements and camp activities have been carefully chosen to give your child the best camp experience. Lastly, our camp is grounded in behavioral, research-supported strategies to treat selective mutism effectively.
Kids Out Loud
Selective Mutism Camp
Benefits of Intensive Camps
25 hours of intensive practice for youth, 5 hours of parent training, and 1-hour school training leads to more rapid and sustained progress as compared to once-a-week standard therapy sessions.
Camp is offered at less than half the cost of standard individual therapy rates. You save about $3200 compared to what you would spend if participating in the same number of hours of individual therapy.
A multitude of real-world opportunities are incorporated to generalize speech with adults and children through varied camp activities, special events, and a simulated classroom environment.
Training is provided to parents and teachers so that intervention can be successfully sustained across new home, social, and school situations. This collaboration is essential for achieving system-wide, ongoing gains!
Camp is fun! We truly believe that change occurs most often when we are enjoying ourselves! Our activities are designed to be engaging and interactive.
Camp with a group of peers allows kids to learn through modeling and observing each other. Kids enjoy seeing others just like them. They inspire each other to develop their bravery!
Participating in camp over the summer allows for a boost in success and practice to give kids a head start on the new school year!
About
The Kids Out Loud Intensive Program
Kids Out Loud is a 5-day therapeutic camp experience that provides intensive behavioral treatment for children between the ages of four and eight diagnosed with selective mutism. Kids Out Loud employs an exposure therapy model to help children practice and build confidence in brave speech and social interaction, getting a jump start before the new school year.
With this goal in mind, each child is paired with a counselor who provides a customized treatment experience with specific goals and pacing to match their camper’s needs. We simulate a classroom environment and real-world, community activities with the goal of generalizing your child’s progress to as many situations and individuals as possible. Engaging and hands-on activities include group games, scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, music, and special events. Each day is organized according to a theme. We practice circle time, center work, and show and tell to create a school-like experience. Individual goals target such brave activities as peer-to-peer interactions, speech in small and large groups, raising your hand and presenting during structured activities, spontaneous speech, and self-advocacy.
In addition to providing well-engineered and structured exposure activities, Kids Out Loud utilizes the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for SM (PCIT-SM) model developed by Steven Kurtz, Ph.D., through which Brave Buddies, the original intensive summer camp for children with selective mutism, was established. This is a research-supported approach for increasing verbal interaction through specific skills that reinforce speaking behavior. By integrating these approaches, we help campers reach their personalized goals. The counselors in our program are well-trained in implementing these proven techniques and receive ongoing supervision throughout the camp week.
Our activities are designed to be engaging and interactive.
Our
Camp Package includes:
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25 hours of child-focused therapy in a group setting with an individual counselor who provides one-to-one therapeutic support
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Daily developmentally appropriate and fun camp events and activities (see more below)
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5 hours of parent training and live coaching with camp directors
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Skills-based teacher training call
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Fade-in support/session with your child and teacher
Sample Daily Schedule
Morning small group play
Morning meeting/circle time
Sensory activity (art, music or movement)
Lunch
Interactive event (e.g., magician, petting zoo, ice cream truck)
Generalization activity (Group games, scavenger hunts, etc.)
Afternoon circle time and show and tell
Directors of
Kids Out Loud
Veronica Raggi, Ph.D.
Dr. Raggi is a licensed psychologist and director of Brighter Outlook Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, LLC. Dr. Raggi has over fifteen years of experience providing evidence-based treatment for youth and families with selective mutism and co-occurring disorders. She has co-directed SM Camps for the past eight years and has collaborated on a pilot study to examine camp outcomes. Dr. Raggi supports other clinicians in treating selective mutism through bi-monthly peer consultation groups within the Selective Mutism Association. She frequently trains and consults with schools in treating anxiety and selective mutism.
In addition to clinical work, Dr. Raggi is passionate about bringing increased attention to evidence-based approaches to treating youth anxiety. She writes a blog called Brave Voices for Psychology Today. She has been a speaker for podcasts, interviewed by the Washington Post and other media, and has been published in numerous academic journals. Dr. Raggi is the first author of the book: Exposure Therapy for Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents, a resource for clinicians on implementing therapies that help kids face their fears effectively.
Courtney Keeton, Ph.D.
Dr. Keeton is a licensed psychologist and director of the Anxiety Treatment Center of Maryland located in Howard County. After completing undergraduate and graduate studies at Duke University and UMass Amherst, Dr. Keeton completed a post-doctoral fellowship and joined the faculty at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For nearly 10 years in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Keeton worked as an investigator on several research trials focused on the treatment of pediatric anxiety and other behavioral health issues. She also ran an outpatient clinic focused on the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders including selective mutism, and published dozens of peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and book chapters. Dr. Keeton’s training experiences and early professional career yielded a respect and passion for the delivery of interventions that have been proven effective for children and teens.
Since founding the Anxiety Treatment Center of Maryland in 2014, Dr. Keeton has been dedicated to providing compassionate, innovative, and effective care to children, adolescents, and their families. She is an active member of the Selective Mutism Association and enjoys regular collaboration with fellow members. As a part-time faculty member at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Keeton continues to teach psychiatry residents about evidence-based interventions.
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Clinical Supervisor at
Kids Out Loud
Rachel Kolsky, Ph.D.
Dr. Rachel Kolsky is a licensed psychologist and specialist in early childhood mental health. Dr. Kolsky has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders, including specific expertise with selective mutism. She is a clinical supervisor for the Kids Out Loud Summer Camp Program.
Dr. Kolsky is also trained in SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), a parent-based treatment for child anxiety disorders. Prior to joining Brighter Outlook, Dr. Kolsky was a psychologist at Children’s National Hospital with an appointment as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Pediatrics at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The George Washington University before completing her clinical internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
Our data show kids improve!
On average, our campers has a 26.3% overall increase in speech.
On average, our campers had a 49.6% increase in speech at school.
On average, our campers has a 26.4% increase in speech in the community.
On average, our campers had a 15% increase in speech in the home.
Our counselors are recruited from graduate psychology programs in the DC Metro area. Most of our counselors come from the University of Maryland at College Park, The Johns Hopkins University, and Catholic University Clinical Psychology Programs. Counselors receive extensive hands-on and didactic training in preparation for their involvement in our camp and groups.
Counselors
Registration Process
Registration opens on January 15, 2025. Space is Limited and is filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once camp is full, we keep a short list of names on a waiting list.
Training Opportunities
Counselor Recruitment
Camp is an excellent opportunity for graduate students and motivated undergraduate students studying psychology or child development to get additional clinical training experiences. If you are interested in becoming a clinical volunteer or part of our logistics team for the camp week, please email Dr. Courtney Keeton at courtneykeeton@anxiety-treatment-center.com with your resume.
Parents of Campers Say...
Kids Out Loud was one of the best decisions we were able to make.Thank you to everyone!
Kids Out Loud has such a positive impact. We’ve never seen our son be so excited to use his voice and share himself with other kids and adults. We are so grateful to be able to attend!
This camp was absolutely amazing. It was so thought out, specific, kind. My daughter had a fabulous week and grew so much. 1000% recommend it.
It was transformative. Others noticed all the changes the next time they saw our son- he spoke at full volume, ordered food, interacted with peers- all things he would not have done a few weeks ago.
This week was wonderful. My child genuinely enjoyed camp, AND made a lot of progress. The way you made it all seem fun was wonderful.
Our kiddo had the most incredible time at camp- it was amazing to see her daily progress. The staff is engaged and so dedicated to these kiddos!
This camp was absolutely amazing for our daughter. She made so much progress and loved going to camp every day!
This camp has helped my daughter to talk in new environments after Day 1! The methods work and we can't wait to see even more improvements post 3-4 months as research shows it keeps improving!
I was amazed with the comfort level that my daughter attained with new people in this short period of time. I was also impressed with the counselor’s abilities to circle in on her strengths and help her to show her leadership. She is already talking more to people she doesn’t know outside of camp. So pleased!