Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W., is the author of “Beyond Shyness: How to Conquer Social Anxieties (Simon & Schuster). Since 1978, he has pioneered psychotherapy for social anxiety having worked with thousands of individuals of all ages. He has developed a progressive treatment program for selective mutism in which, hundreds of individuals have participated. His appearance in 1988 on CNN Medical News was the first national program to feature Selective Mutism. He has been featured extensively in the media including Oprah, Sally Jesse Raphael, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, CNBC, Joan Rivers, The New York Times, Newsday, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and over a thousand other appearances. Jonathan is an expert in “performance” training. He has served as a stress management consultant to numerous organizations and corporations including the United Federation of Teachers, Technicon Science Center, Bloomingdale's, NBC and others. Jonathan has extensively researched technology and the avoidant personality. Mr. Berent is a “diplomate” in clinical social work. He is certified by New York State and by the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.   Jonathan is the director of Berent Associates Center for Social Therapy in Great Neck, New York. 1-800-248-2034.

Mark Wilkow, Esq. has been practicing law in the New York City area for over 12 years. He maintains offices in Brooklyn, New York and Jericho, New York. Mark has represented national, regional, and local corporations and individuals in all phases of civil and commercial litigation; both at the state and federal court levels. He has also represented individuals and corporations at the state, county and local governmental levels at administrative hearing, arbitration and mediations. Mark is a conduit for the location of local council for the representation of individuals with selective mutism regarding educational and civil rights nationally. He can be reached at (516) 876-0720.

Robert R. Luttrell, M.D. is a Board Certified Psychiatrist. He has extensive psycho-pharmacological experience with social anxiety and selective mutism. Dr. Lutrell is currently in private practice in Great Neck, New York, (516) 466-8558 and is the Senior Psychiatrist of “Project Outreach” of The North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System. He previously was the Director of Shawnee Guidance Center, Topeka Kansas; Director of Outpatient Services, Hillside-Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and Staff Psychiatrist, Court Project, Nassau County. He is a graduate of Williams College; Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons; Topeka Institute of Psychoanalysis; and the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. He was a resident at the Menninger Clinic School of Psychiatry.