When Children Refuse School: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach Therapist Guide

This Therapist Guide outlines four treatment protocols based on CBT principles that can be used to effectively address the main types of school refusal behavior. The Guide concentrates on four primary reasons why children typically refuse school to relieve school-related distress, to avoid negative social or evaluative situations at school, to receive attention from a parent or a significant other, and to obtain tangible rewards outside of school

This manual includes tools for assessing a child's reasons for school refusal behavior and is based on a functional, prescriptive model. It presents well-tested techniques arranged by function to tailor treatment to a child's particular characteristics. Each treatment package also contains a detailed discussion of special topics pertinent to treating youths with school refusal behavior, such as medication, panic attacks, and being teased. A corresponding workbook is also available for parents, who often play an important part in a child's recovery. This comprehensive program is an invaluable resource for clinicians treating school refusal behavior.

Many children and teenagers refuse to attend school or have anxiety-related difficulties remaining in classes for an entire day. School refusal behavior can contribute to a child's academic, social, and psychological problems, impact a child's chances for future educational, financial, and personal success, and significantly affect family functioning. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be a highly effective treatment for youth who exhibit this behavior.

This Therapist Guide outlines four treatment protocols based on CBT principles that can be used to effectively address the main types of school refusal behavior. The Guide concentrates on four primary reasons why children typically refuse school to relieve school-related distress, to avoid negative social or evaluative situations at school, to receive attention from a parent or a significant other, and to obtain tangible rewards outside of school

This manual includes tools for assessing a child's reasons for school refusal behavior and is based on a functional, prescriptive model. It presents well-tested techniques arranged by function to tailor treatment to a child's particular characteristics. Each treatment package also contains a detailed discussion of special topics pertinent to treating youths with school refusal behavior, such as medication, panic attacks, and being teased. A corresponding workbook is also available for parents, who often play an important part in a child's recovery. This comprehensive program is an invaluable resource for clinicians treating school refusal behavior.

Christopher A. Kearney, Ph.D., is an associate professor of child psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also the Director of the UNLV Child School Refusal and Anxiety Disorders Clinic. Dr. Kearney received his BA from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and his MA and Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Albany. He completed his internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Kearney's research has focused mainly on the classification, assessment, and treatment of school refusal behavior and internalizing disorders in children and adolescents. He also works with adults with severe developmental disabilities. Dr. Kearney has served in editorial positions for the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology and Behavior Therapy. Dr. Kearney has co-authored and co-edited two books on anxiety disorders in youth, authored a casebook on childhood behavior disorders and a book on school refusal behavior, and written numerous journal articles and book chapters. He is the recipient of the Barrick Scholar Award, the William Morris Award for Excellence in Scholarship, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychiatry in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University. She has held positions as Director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinical Research Service at the Child Study Center of New York University Medical Center, as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Louisville, and as Assistant Director of the Phobia and Anxiety Disorders Clinic of the State University of New York at Albany. Dr. Albano receivedher Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the SUNY Phobia Clinic. Dr. Albano has served in editorial positions for Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. She is the former Chair of the Continuing Education Issues Committee for AABT. Her main clinical and research interests are in the development and dissemination of empirically supported assessment and treatment protocols for youth. In addition to school refusal, she and her colleagues have developed cognitive behavioral treatment programs for social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and mixed anxiety and depression.