I am so glad that you are back with me and my amazing guest, Jayne Demsky.  

So many of you have talked to me about school avoidance and how to navigate this, and we’re digging in deep this week! The good thing - there is hope! Jayne shares her story & why she’s so passionate about school avoidance, and why we can’t just “make them go.” Jayne talks about different therapy options like CBT & exposure therapy, the school’s role, underlying causes, & advocating for your child. We discuss how hard school refusal is on the parents & adults and why punitive consequences do not help. I ask Jayne what parents should do first when they start seeing school avoidance or refusal, and we finish by chatting about education reform & improving schools for kids and how parents can self-care during challenging times. 

Takeaways from the show

• What is school avoidance & school refusal? 
• What are the signs? 
• CBT & exposure therapy 
• The school’s role 
• Underlying causes 
• Advocating for your child 
• Why punitive consequences don’t work 
• When to intervene & what to do first 
• Self-care for parents

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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