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Digital Seminar

School Refusal: Real Help for Children and Teens Who Can’t or Won’t Go to School

Faculty:
Susan Gibbs, MS, LPC
Duration:
6 Hours 20 Minutes
Copyright:
18 Mar, 2024
Product Code:
POS059513
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Access:
Never expires.
 Add to Cart »

Description

School refusal creates chaos in families and often becomes a vicious cycle in which students become trapped.

Often a symptom of anxiety and depression, school refusal creates an immediate short-term relief for kids seeking to escape aspects of the school day. But the result typically includes falling further behind academically, increased feelings of disconnection from peers, and lowered self-esteem.

Watch Susan Gibbs, LPC, to learn from her extensive experience in addressing school refusal effectively. She will bridge the clinical and educational words and share approaches for both environments so you can help struggling students and families.

You will finish with the ability to:

  • Identify the 4 functions of school refusal
  • Anticipate and plan for 5 critical times of day
  • Create student and family specific plans that focus on the student’s inner wealth and human connection
  • Equip parents and educators with age-appropriate interventions to successfully handle school refusal in-the-moment
  • Apply the Nurtured Heart Approach to school refusal

Purchase today to help students end the cycle of school refusal by changing the way they see themselves and the world around them.

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.


CPD

PESI Australia, in collaboration with PESI in the USA, offers quality online continuing professional development events from the leaders in the field at a standard recognized by professional associations including psychology, social work, occupational therapy, alcohol and drug professionals, counselling and psychotherapy. On completion of the training, a Professional Development Certificate is issued after the individual has answered and submitted a quiz and course evaluation. This program is worth 6.5 hours CPD for points calculation by your association.

Handouts

File type File name Number of pages
PDF Manual - School Refusal (15.2 MB) 84 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - School Refusal - French (15.2 MB) 84 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - School Refusal - Italian (15.2 MB) 84 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - School Refusal - German (15.2 MB) 84 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - School Refusal - Spanish (15.2 MB) 84 Pages Available after Purchase

Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product. For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.


Objectives

  1. Identify the four functions of school refusal.   
  2. Determine five critical times of day when school refusal may be heightened.   
  3. Choose effective interventions to increase class and school attendance.   
  4. Identify three core elements of the Nurtured Heart Approach and its considerations for school refusal.   
  5. Evaluate a treatment plan based on the identified function of the school refusal.   
  6. Identify strategies for parents and educators to improve participation in education.

Outline

The What and the Why of School Refusal
Simple dislike, truancy, or something else entirely?

  • Soft school refusal vs outright refusal
  • Refusal vs truancy
  • Co-morbid DSM-5® disorders
    • Anxiety – the self-fulling prophecy
    • ODD – can’t or won’t?
    • Learning disorders – avoiding failure
    • Depression – lacking a “why”
    • PTSD – self-protection
    • Conduct disorders – rethinking behaviour
    • Autism – sensory and social overload
  • Tool to measure school refusal objectively
  • Standardized assessment measures to employ
  • Critical questions to ask refusers and their parents

School Avoidance: A Vicious Cycle
Short-term relief with long-term consequences

  • Early morning pleas, somatic complaints, bargaining
  • Common triggers for avoidance
  • 5 critical times of day and how to handle each
  • Ages and stages of avoidance and refusal
  • 3 common parental responses to school refusal (that don’t work!) and approaches to recommend instead
  • The role of peers, academic struggles, and home life
  • Case conceptualisation with integrated intervention plan

Grounding and Planning, Not Coping
Power through or enhance resilience?

  • 5 tips for navigating the Distress Hill
  • Tap into polyvagal theory techniques
  • 8 powerful grounding techniques and when to use each
  • Activate cognitive ability, motivation and values
  • 5 critical time periods each day and intervention strategies for each
  • The role of rewards and consequences and to how to use both effectively

The Nurtured Heart Approach®
Inspire behaviour vs manage behaviour

  • 3 Stands: absolute no, absolute yes, clarity
  • Starter ideas for the 4 Recognitions: Active, experiential, proactive, creative
  • Interventions to expand the student’s reserve of inner wealth
  • Channel intense energy in a positive direction
  • Special considerations for ADHD, ASD, and other diagnoses

Engagement and Connectedness
Multi-tiered support and collaborative intervention

  • Help parents trust their deepest instincts
  • Relationship as an energetic exchange
  • Medication considerations
  • Practical strategies for home and school collaboration

Limitations of the Research and Potential Risks

Target Audience

  • Educators
  • School Administrators
  • Counsellors
  • Social Workers
  • Occupational Therapists
  • School Psychologists

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