Under: Child Anxiety, Parenting, Ask the Child Therapist/By: Natasha Daniels

Help! My Anxious Child Refuses to Go to School? How to Deal with School Anxiety.

Anxiety loves avoidance. It feeds off avoidance. It grows bigger, strong and more ferocious with avoidance. So it is no wonder that anxiety will make going to school one of the most difficult things an anxious child can do. The sad reality is – the more a child avoids school, the more they will fear going to school. It is a vicious cycle that many anxious kids can’t seem to stop. So how do you help when a child refuses to go to school? The key is in explaining how anxiety works. Explaining what feeds anxiety. Teaching them how anxiety grows bigger and stronger when it is fed delicious avoidance.

Dragging your child kicking and screaming to school isn’t going to help if they don’t understand why they shouldn’t cater to their anxiety. It is important to help them understand the inner workings of anxiety’s secrets, otherwise school refusal and school anxiety will be with you for the long haul. And who wants that?!

Still not sure where to start? Relax, I made a video to help out. In my latest episode of Ask the Child Therapist Kids Edition, I am talking all about school refusal and school anxiety. More often than not – when a child refuses to go to school it is just a symptom of a bigger anxiety.

Click below to watch my short video:
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