Name: Overcoming School Refusal Together
Start: 2026-05-21T23:00:00+12:00
End: 2026-05-22T07:00:00+12:00
Location: Adina Apartment Hotel Auckland Britomart

Proven Strategies with a Wrap-around Approach by Karen Young from Hey Sigmund
For an increasing number of young people, school anxiety is reaching levels that make school feel impossible, unsafe, and out of their reach. We know that ‘school refusal’, as it is commonly known, is not an intentional response. It’s anxiety. We also know that with the right strategies, support, and a holistic, collaborative,‘wrap-around’ response, children can find their way back to feeling safe, strong, and happy at school.
This workshop is designed to offer a sense of community and a way through for parents, educators, and students dealing with school ‘refusal’. It will engage a team approach and proven, innovative strategies to support young people back to school. The pivotal component involves working with a child’s key adults - parents and teachers - in a collaborative approach.
We will explore:
> the common triggers in every school and home, even the best ones;
> how anxiety grows into school refusal;
> how to manage anxiety-fuelled behaviours in ways that preserve connection and influence;
> techniques for parents and teachers to move through resistance and avoidance, and facilitate engagement;
> what to do when children are disengaged and resistant;
how to build high-quality relationships with all children that will strengthen against anxiety and school refusal, build brave behaviour, and minimise incidents of critical behaviour;
> how to respond to anxiety and resistance in the moment to make way for calm and courage;
> when children won’t get out of bed, the house, the car - what parents can do;
> when parents feel ‘stuck’ - moving past the impasse;
when school comes with vomiting, sick tummies or sore tummies - why, and what to do;
> when peer relationships are tricky - the profoundly powerful way of working with bullying and strained peer relationships to build relational safety for all young people;
> the strategies that will strengthen all children against anxiety and build confidence and courage at school and beyond;
> the critical elements of ‘presence’ that children need from their parents;
> the three conditions necessary to facilitate school engagement and how to work with these;
> building the toolbox for students - practical strategies to feel safer in the presence of anxiety and open the way to brave behaviour.
Includes: Full catering, full-colour printed handbook and CPD certificate (6 hrs)
https://tickets.mentalhealthtrainingnz.com/events/mentalhealthtrainingnz/1787436/r/meta
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