Rachel Busman, PsyD, ABPP is the senior director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and director of the Selective Mutism Service at the Child Mind Institute. She leads a team of clinicians providing evaluation and innovative treatment to children with selective mutism. Dr. Busman is the past President of the Selective Mutism Association, the nation’s largest network of professionals, families, and individuals with selective mutism.

Dr. Busman has extensive experience providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to children, teenagers and young adults struggling with anxiety disorders, school difficulties and behavioral problems. She also has specific interest and expertise in the evaluation and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and specific phobias.

Dr. Busman has worked with children in both inpatient and outpatient settings at a major academic medical center, where she directed a multidisciplinary team. She has taught and supervised psychiatry residents and child psychiatry fellows, and lectured extensively on a variety of topics, including the evidence-based assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and teens.

Dr. Busman works intensively with children who have selective mutism, and is dedicated to establishing trust and instilling a sense of hope in her patients as she helps them on their path to recovery.

Clifton Mitchell Ph.D. is an international clinical trainer and keynote speaker with over 30 years of training experience. He delivers practical information in a uniquely entertaining, fast-paced style that is filled with humor and illuminating examples. His trainings are based on his books, Priming: Programming the Mind for Habit Change and Success and Effective Techniques for Dealing with Highly Resistant Clients. He has also trained thousands of mental health professionals in the management of difficult, perplexing legal and ethical issues in an entertaining, dynamic game show format.

He is a contributing author in therapy books and published in numerous professional journals including the Psychotherapy Networker, Psychotherapy in Australia, and Journal of Personality Assessment to name a few. Dr. Mitchell is currently a professor Emeritus at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN, where he was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2002.

Josefina Alvarez, PhD is Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychology at Adler University/Chicago Campus. Prior to retiring from full time teaching, she taught courses in multicultural psychology, community psychology, and the social determinants of mental health. She has held leadership positions related to diversity and inclusion and her research has focused on the development of culturally competent behavioral health interventions. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Contributions for Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Professional Psychology Education and Training Award from the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology . Dr. Alvarez graduated from De Paul University with a degree in Clinical Community Psychology and has experience as a service provider, consultant and trainer. She is the Board President of Mental Health America of the North Shore where she coordinates education and advocacy to promote mental health in Chicago's northern suburbs.

Jami Furr, Ph.D. is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Senior Psychologist in the Mental Health Interventions and Technology (MINT) Program, and the Selective Mutism Program at the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University (FIU). Dr. Furr serves as the current President of the Selective Mutism Association, where she has been a member of the Board of Directors for the last 4 years. Dr. Furr has extensive expertise in cognitive-behavioral treatments and telehealth adaptations of treatments for childhood anxiety, disruptive behavior disorders, and selective mutism, with a focus on preschool mental health, and serves as a trainer and consultant on the largest PCORI-funded project on anxiety in youth. She directed the first randomized clinical trial of the intensive group behavioral treatment for selective mutism in young children, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Her selective mutism program has been featured in the media, including The New York Times. She was an inaugural Associate Editor for Evidence Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health for 3 years. Prior to joining FIU, she served as Clinical Director of the Child Program at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders of Boston University, where she began their Selective Mutism Program. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University, completed her clinical internship at the NYU-Bellevue Clinical Psychology Internship Program and NYU Child Study Center, and finished her training in a NIH-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship at the NYU Child Study Center.