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Live Webinar

School Refusal & Resistance: Strategies that Work When Nothing Else Has


Speaker:
Susan Haarman, PhD, LCPC
Duration:
Full Day
Language:
Presented in EN, subtitles in EN and FR, handouts in EN
Product Code:
LWC150285
Brochure Code:
PWZ94343
Media Type:
Live Webinar - Also available: Digital Seminar

Dates

Normal Price:      $324.99 - Now:  $64.99 - Exclusive offer when combined with this live training.

Description

School refusal can range from subtle to loud and dramatic. It might look like daily stomachaches, missed buses, or quiet withdrawal – or it can escalate to emotional meltdowns, outright aggression, or fleeing school mid-day.

Behind these behaviors are often deep emotional barriers – not defiance, but distress.

You witness parents and educators grappling with uncertainty, desperate to help as students become trapped in a cycle of avoidance – one that fuels anxiety, depression, and academic disengagement.

Led by Susan Haarman, LCPC, a seasoned expert in adolescence, trauma, and school-based care, this course delivers practical, collaborative strategies for addressing school refusal in even the most challenging cases.

In this training, you’ll gain:

  • Accurate Assessment Tools – Improve diagnostic clarity and select the right interventions for each student.
  • Personalized Intervention Plans – Utilize templates designed to create effective, individualized school refusal strategies.
  • Deeper Understanding of Root Causes – Address the role of family dynamics, cultural expectations, and environmental stressors in school refusal behavior.
  • Evidence-Based Treatment Approaches – Learn how cognitive-behavioral therapy, family systems interventions, and pharmacological options can support school reintegration.
  • Collaborative Strategies – Work effectively with parents and educators to build a compassionate, non-punitive plan that fosters attendance and emotional well-being.

This interactive training goes beyond theory, delving into real-life case studies and actionable solutions. Through expert insights and practical applications, you’ll leave with a toolbox of interventions designed to help students shift from avoidance to engagement.

Don’t let another student fall behind. Join this essential training and become the clinician who helps turn school anxiety into school success. Register today!

Credit

Program Information

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.



Canada Credit - *

NOTE: Each purchase includes CE credit for one individual (participants in full attendance will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, Q&A, and others.

Continuing Education Information: Credits listed below are for full attendance at the live, interactive webinar only. This webinar is being broadcast live in real-time and must be attended live, in its entirety, in order to earn credit. You will be able to type questions to the speaker. The speaker will see the questions and address them during the presentation as time allows. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether web-based activities are an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval. For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before the event.

Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession.  As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.

For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.


Canada Credit - ---

Earn up to 6.25 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession. 


Canada Credit - Canadian Counsellors and Psychotherapists

PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.


Canada Credit - Social Workers - National ASWB ACE

PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2023 - January 27, 2026. Social workers completing this course receive 6.25 Clinical continuing education credits.

 

Course Level: Intermediate Format: Synchronous Distance.  Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.

 

Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities approved by the ASWB for ongoing professional development.


Canada Credit - Canadian Psychologists

PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This program is approved for 6.0 continuing education hours. Full credit statement at: www.pesi.com/cpa-statement


Canada Credit - Other Professions

This activity qualifies for 380 continuing education minutes as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements. 


US National Boards - Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Clinical Nurse Specialists – ANCC

PESI, Inc. is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Nurses in full attendance will earn 6.25 contact hours. Partial contact hours will be awarded for partial attendance.



Handouts

Speaker

Susan Haarman, PhD, LCPC Related seminars and products


Susan Haarman, PhD, LCPC, is a practicing therapist in Chicago, Illinois. She is an expert facilitator and has been working with young adults for over a decade. Her professional development sessions are active, participatory, and engaging. She also has a PhD in educational philosophy and teaches at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Education. In addition to her career as a therapist, she’s been working in higher education for over 15 years to help students persist and thrive.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Susan Haarman has employment relationships with Loyola University and Psychotherapy Associates of Chicago. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Susan Haarman has no relevant non-financial relationships.

 


Additional Info

Program Information

Access Period for Live Webcast

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.


Webcast Schedule

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.


Questions?

Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.


Objectives

  1. Identify the behavioral features of school refusers to better inform clinical decision making.
  2. Analyze the functional purpose of school refusal behavior to determine appropriate treatment strategies.
  3. Identify co-morbid psychological disorders associated with school refusal to improve participation in school.
  4. Identify cultural and social factors that impact refusal behavior.
  5. Compare behavioral and pharmacological approaches for the treatment of school refusers.
  6. Choose strategic school refusal plans that target the underlying motivation and reinforcement systems.
  7. Choose functional tips to remedy school refusal behavior for parents and school personnel.

Outline

The WHAT and the WHY of School Avoidance and Refusal

Undercover the sources of the rising rates of refusal

  • The dynamic difference between school refusers and truants
  • Common characteristics of school refusers
  • Avoiding of negative affect situations
  • Escape aversive social, cultural, and evaluative situations
  • Attention seeking behavior
  • Reinforced school refusal

Get to the Root of the Issue

Assessment and Diagnostic Strategies

  • Functional Analysis of School Refusal
    • Categorical-dimensional approach
    • Reinforcement contingencies
  • Tools to identify co-morbid DSM-5® disorders
    • Anxiety disorders
    • ADHD
    • ASD
    • Oppositional Defiant Disorder
    • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
    • Depressive disorders
    • Phobias
    • Conduct disorders
    • Learning disorders
  • Cultural considerations
  • The role of standardized assessments
  • Critical questions to ask refusers and their parents
  • Case Studies of complex school refusal cases

Get Refusers Back in School and Keep Them There

Select interventions based on assessment results

  • Individual therapy to address co-morbidities
  • Systematic desensitization strategies
  • Exposure therapy: A step-by-step approach
  • Video modeling, social stories, and more
  • Cognitive therapy to challenge thoughts and beliefs about school
  • Individualized educational supports to enable academic success
  • Structured family therapy to address underlying stressors
  • Systemic family therapy to unlock potential for change
  • 3 powerful DBT techniques to change school mindset
  • The role of meds:
    • Tricyclics
    • SSRI’s
    • Beta blockers
    • Benzodiazepines
  • Creative therapies to address the functions of school refusal
  • The role of rewards, positive attention, and more
  • Case studies:
    • “School Makes Me Want to Throw Up”
    • “Everybody There Hates Me – Even the Teachers!”
    • “Can’t I Stay at Home and Have You Teach Me?”
    • What’s the Point of Being There?”
  • Experiential learning: Create an individualized intervention plan

Not In This Alone

Getting School Personnel and Parents Involved

  • Build on student interests and skills
  • School escorts: When, who, what, and why
  • 35 concrete tips for parents and teachers
  • Multidisciplinary collaboration
  • Virtual schooling – pros and cons for school avoiders

Target Audience

  • Educators
  • School Administrators
  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Occupational Therapists
  • School Psychologists
  • School Nurses

Reviews

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