School-Based Intensive Exposure Therapy for School Refusal Behavior

Abstract

Although previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of intensive exposure therapy for school refusal behavior, there have been few recent case studies on this subject. This article discusses the successful treatment of a 14-year-old student with school refusal behavior using intensive exposure therapy. In consultation sessions, the school counselor provided psychoeducation about the mechanism of school refusal behavior from a behavioral point of view, and developed the plan for intensive exposure therapy. The parents, school officials, and school counselor consecutively escorted the school refusal child from home to school. Through a series of treatments, the student was able to return to classes on a daily basis. This case study suggests that intensive exposure might be applied as an effective school-based approach for treating school refusal behavior.

Rapid Return for School Refusal: A School-Based Approach Applied With Japanese Adolescents

“…In situations where clinic-based services are not available, or an active approach to SR is not offered, a school-based behavioral intervention may be required. The first author (NM), a parttime school counselor in public junior high schools, developed a school-based support system comprising a rapid school return approach (Maeda et al, 2012a). It targets SR among adolescents (aged 13-15 years) in public junior high schools and it differs substantially from clinic-based CBT with respect to assessment and treatment.…”

Practitioner Review: School refusal: developments in conceptualisation and treatment since 2000

“…() provide helpful practical guidance for operating exposure techniques, including in work with those whose school refusal represents an attempt to avoid anxiety‐provoking situations. A major challenge is that, for exposure to prove effective, there needs to be close, ongoing collaboration with school staff who may sometimes find the extensive time requirements of organising and monitoring individualised school return programmes rather burdensome (Maeda et al., ).…”

“…Some 18 years ago, the current state of knowledge about such difficulties was reviewed in this journal (Elliott, ). Since then, interest in this topic has burgeoned, with increasing numbers of studies taking place in non‐English‐speaking countries such as Spain (Inglés, Gonzálvez, García‐Fernández, Vicent, & Martínez‐Monteagudo, ), Chile (Gonzálvez et al., ), India (Nair et al., ), Sri Lanka (Fernando & Perera, ), Japan (Maeda, Hatada, Sonoda, & Takayama, ) and South Korea (Park et al., ) . A generation later, and with this broader international perspective, it seems timely to consider what progress has been made over the intervening period.…”

Effectiveness of Morita Therapy-Based Consultation for a School-Refusing Adolescent with Psychogenic Fever

“…School refusal in Japan has become a serious issue in compulsory education, which requires 6 years of elementary school (ages 6-12) and 3 years of junior high school (ages 12-15) (Maeda, Hatada, Sonoda, & Takayama, 2012). Concerning the increase in the number of Japanese school-refusing adolescents, one crucial aspect in Japanese compulsory education should not be ignored.…”