Book: School Anxiety
Is school refusal a source of anxiety for you and your child?
In this easy-to read and beautifully illustrated handbook, you will gain an understanding of emotionally based school refusal from me, an experienced psychologist, along with a toolkit of effective strategies for school anxiety to support your family.
Co-Author of a School Anxiety Book
In 2024 I co-authored with a parent and her son, who for years had an awful experience within the school system, a book about school anxiety called “Emotionally based school avoidance – A compassionate and supportive toolkit for you and your child.”
I am passionate about young people’s experiences and ensuring they are understood and their voices heard – particularly with school anxiety.
In addition, I always want to ensure parents are supported as much as possible with school refusal strategies, so that, ultimately, children and young people have the best possible experience.
I also care deeply about systems change, as we all exist within systems that can perpetuate disadvantage, inequalities and be silencing.
You can view our book about school anxiety on Amazon.
How will this book help with School Anxiety and School Refusal Strategies?
Drawing on the Internal Family Systems Approach (IFS), this book about school anxiety offers a compassionate and understanding lens to viewing children and young people’s experience when they are struggling to go to school.
The book provides a range of school refusal strategies to support you as a parent, teacher, child or young person.
It helps you to understand those parts that struggle to go to school, how to support them with their school anxiety, and ultimately how to support you when it gets overwhelming and tough.
It offers a compassionate perspective on the child, parent, teacher and the sinking school system.
Foreword
Dr. Claire Stubbs and her co-authors Hollie and Kit Szabo have created an easy-to read and beautifully illustrated school anxiety handbook for understanding and supporting children who resist or refuse to go to school.
Using brain science and an Internal Family Systems approach, this guide brings a compassionate and intelligent lens to see school refusal as a protective mechanism rather than just acting-out behaviour.
This stance brings both parents and school staff into a collaborative rather than
adversarial relationship with the child who is struggling with school anxiety.
This in turn helps grown ups get to the deepest source of school anxiety with the hope of addressing that concern with school refusal strategies, rather than just battling with symptoms.
Dr. Stubbs is a deeply committed child therapist with an uncanny ability to attune to and welcome all the parts of her little clients and their parents. She contributes to a wider audience by writing this wonderful school anxiety guide.
Following publishing my book on school anxiety, I am now working with Lisa Spiegel on the second edition of “Internal family Systems Therapy with Children”, due to be published in September 2025.
LISA SPIEGEL, MA LMHC
Author of Internal Family Systems Therapy with Children
