Aileen Herrera, M.S., LMHC

Professional Biography

Aileen Herrera is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and the Clinical Director of the MINT Anxiety Clinic within the Center for Children and Families (CCF) at Florida International University. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Selective Mutism Association. She supervises student trainees and provides weekly and intensive treatment for children and teens with emotional disorders in both English and Spanish. Aileen is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM). She also directs specialty programs for youth with selective mutism, including FIU’s Brave Bunch Summer Treatment Program.

She graduated from Florida State University in May of 2015 Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a minor in Child Development. During her undergraduate, Aileen worked for two years as a research assistant at the Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic at Florida State University. Aileen received a Master of Science in Professional Counseling Psychology at Florida International University. She completed her practicum at FIU’s Center for Children and Families where she was trained in providing individual and group treatment for children ages 2 to 7 with behavioral problems using Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. She also served as a lead behavioral counselor for two years at FIU’s Pre-K Summer Treatment Program for young children with disruptive behavior disorders. She completed her clinical internship with the MINT Anxiety program where she provided individual, group, and intensive cognitive-behavioral treatment in English and Spanish to children and adolescents with anxiety, and served as a lead counselor for FIU’s Brave Bunch Summer Treatment program.

Contact: aherrera@fiu.edu

Publications

Furr, J.M., Cornacchio, D., Hong, N., del Busto, C., Herrera, A., Lorenzo, N., Kurtz, S.M.S., & Comer, J.S. (In Press) Intensive Group Behavioral Treatment for Children with Selective Mutism: The Brave Bunch Program Manual . New York, NY: Oxford University Press USA.

Lorenzo, N., Furr, J.M., del Busto, C., Herrera, A. , & Hong, N. (in preparation). Weekly Group Treatment Program for Selective Mutism (SM) . Miami, FL. Unpublished manual.

Comer, J.S., Kamenetskiy, A., Freitag, G., Urcuyo, A., Herrera, A. , & Furr, J.M. (in preparation). Psychological treatment of early childhood anxiety and related problems: An updated evidence base review.

Urcuyo, A.E., Gomez, G.J., Sanchez, A.L., Herrera, A. , Costa, C., Chavira, D.A., & Comer, J.S. (in preparation). Cultural considerations in the treatment of anxious Hispanic and Latine youth in the United States.

Kamenetskiy A., Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , Feinberg, L., Merson, R.A., Pincus, D.B., & Comer, J.S. (under review). Family accommodation and selective mutism: Evaluating the Survey of Accommodation in Verbal Encounters (SAVE).

Comer, J.S., Kamenetskiy, A., Urcuyo, A.E., Freitag, G.F., Furr, J.M., & Herrera, A. (In Prep). An updated review of the evidence for the treatment of early anxiety and related problems. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology .

Freitag, G.F., Coxe, S., Cardinale, E.M., Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , & Comer, J.S. (2024). Phasic versus Tonic Irritability and associations with family accommodation among youth with selective mutism: A latent profile analysis. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023- 01161-x

Hong, N., Herrera, A. , Furr, J.M., Georgiadis, C., Cristello, J., Heymann, P., Dale, C.F., Heflin, B., Silva, K., Conroy, K., Cornacchio, D., & Comer, J.S. (2022). Remote intensive group behavioral treatment for families of children with selective mutism. Evidence-Based Practice in Child & Adolescent Mental Health . 10.1080/23794925.2022.2062688

Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., del Busto, C., Silva, K., Hong, N., Poznanski, B., Sanchez, A., Cornacchio, D., Herrera, A. , Coxe, S., Miguel, E., Georgiadis, C., Conroy, K., Puliafico, A. (2021). Therapist-led, internet-delivered treatment for early child social anxiety: A waitlist- controlled evaluation of the iCALM Telehealth Program. Behavior Therapy, 52 , 1171-1187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2021.01.004

Conroy, K., Salem, H., Georgiadis, C., Hong, N., Herrera, A. , Furr, J.M., Green, J.G., & Comer, J.S. (2021). Gauging perceptions and attitudes about student anxiety and supports among school mental health providers. School Mental Health .
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12310-021-09470-6

Presentations, Posters, Symposia & Training Workshops

Kamenetskiy, A., Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , Merson, R.A., Pincus, D.B., Comer, J.S. (2025, October). Understanding parental accommodation in verbal contexts among children with selective mutism and other anxiety disorders . Poster presented virtually at the Selective Mutism Association Annual Conference.

Furr, J.M., Herrera, A., Suneeta Monga, MD, FRCPC, Carolina Costa, M.S., LMHC, Adelia Kamenetskiy, B.S. (2025, October). Understanding the Long-Term Impact of Having Selective Mutism During Childhood. Clinical round table presented at the Annual Selective Mutism Association Virtual Conference.

Furr, J.M., Kamenetskiy, A., Herrera, & A. , Costa, C. (2025, October). Understanding the long-term impact of having selective mutism during childhood . Symposium presented virtually at the Selective Mutism Association Annual Conference.

Herrera, A. , (2025, May). Anxiety and Selective Mutism in Young Children: Skills and Strategies for Educators . Workshop presented to Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe.

Kamenetskiy, A., Furr. J.M., Herrera, A., Merson, R.A., Pincus, D.B., Comer, J.S. (April, 2025). Assessing parental accommodation in families of youth with selective mutism: Development and evaluation of the Survey for Accommodation in Verbal Encounters (SAVE) . Poster presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), New Orleans, LA.

Kamenetskiy, A., Furr. J.M., Herrera, A. , Merson, R.A., Pincus, D.B., Comer, J.S. (April, 2025). Assessing parental accommodation in families of youth with selective mutism: Development and evaluation of the Survey for Accommodation in Verbal Encounters (SAVE) . Poster presented at the FIU Psychology Department Research Day, Miami, FL.

Herrera, A. , Reed, K., & Laracy, E. (2025, February). Selective Mutism Training Institute: A professional training workshop for selective mutism . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Herrera, A., Furr, J.M., Avny, S., Reed, K. (2023, October). Helping Teens and Tweens Make Progress In Treatment . Clinical round table presented at the Annual Selective Mutism Association Virtual Conference.

Herrera, A. & Furr, J.M. (2023, February). Targeting Social Fears and Selective Mutism in Schools . Workshop given at Miami International Conference on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Miami, FL.

Busman, R., Herrera, A., Bice-Urbach, B. (2022, April). Selective Mutism Training Institute for caregivers of children with selective mutism . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , & Doll, E. (2021, January). Selective Mutism Training Institute: A professional training workshop for selective mutism . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Furr, J.M., Hong, N., Busman, R., Herrera, A. , Reed, K., & Scharfstein, L. (2021, October). An Exploration of SM Treatment in the Virtual Landscape . Clinical round table presented at the Annual Selective Mutism Association Virtual Conference.

Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , Laerum, S., & Tong, N. (2021, April). Bilingualism and Selective Mutism: A Webinar for Treating Professionals . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Herrera, A. , & Kohlmeier, J. (2021, October). Selective Mutism and Me: What Is It and Where Do I Go From Here? Focused Address presented at the Annual Selective Mutism Association Virtual Conference.

Hong, N., Cornacchio, D., Silva, K., Herrera, A. , Furr, J.M., & Comer, J.S. (2020, November). Evaluating predictors of intensive group behavioral treatment (IGBT) response for youth with selective mutism: Who is most likely to benefit? In J.M. Furr (Chair), Who gets the most bang for their buck?: Predictors of intensive treatment response for youth with anxiety and related disorders . Symposium presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, PA.

Furr, J.M., Busman, R., Doll, E., & Herrera, A. (2020, May). Selective Mutism Training Institute: A professional training workshop for selective mutism . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Busman, R., Furr, J.M., Herrera, A. , Kurtz, S.M.S., Reed, K. (2020, March). Using telehealth for selective mutism . Webinar workshop provided by Selective Mutism Association.

Furr, J.M., Herrera, A., & Hong, N. (2020, January). Selective mutism: Skills for school psychologists, teachers, and providers . Workshop presented at Broward County School Psychologists Professional Development meeting.