Dr. Dina Nunziato
Clinical Director — The Anxiety Institute
Twenty years helping young people in anxiety-related clinical and educational settings, specialising in cognitive-behavioural treatment of anxiety and related disorders.
Master Class · For parents
You're not alone: understanding the school avoidance puzzle
School avoidance is never just one thing. Get guidance directly from five leading clinicians, a school psychologist who gets students back to school, and a special education attorney — in one place, at your own pace.
7 modules · 37 lessons220 minutes · 24/7 access7 experts
Four pieces of the puzzle
Every part of helping your child, covered by the people who do it for a living
These four components are exactly why school avoidance is so hard to untangle alone. The Master Class addresses each one.
Therapeutic help
What CBT and exposure therapy should actually look like for a school-avoidant child — and how to tell if your child is getting it.
Best-practice school interventions
How schools build gradual exposure and strategic reintegration plans, explained by a school psychologist who does it.
Your child's rights
IDEA, Section 504 and IEPs applied specifically to school avoidance by a special education attorney.
Responding helpfully at home
Parental strategies and responses that reduce anxiety instead of accidentally reinforcing avoidance.
From the founder
I get how you feel — been there, thought that
My son went through four years of school avoidance. I felt discouraged and hopeless many times. I spent many days crying, but just like you, I never gave up.
It took those four years to find the proper treatment, get our school to take responsibility, finally provide an IEP, and secure an out-of-district placement. He enjoyed his last two years of high school, graduated, and went on to college.
If I had known what his therapists should have been doing, how to respond at home, that he did qualify for an IEP, and how our school could have helped — he wouldn't have suffered so long. That's why I built this course.
Jayne Demsky · Founder, School Avoidance Alliance
Curriculum
In the Master Class, you will learn:
All about exposure therapy and CBT — the core components of treating school avoidance — so you can guide your therapist and school on what should be happening.
How to build exposure and reintegration plans so you can help your school use evidence-based practice.
The role of avoidance itself, so you understand how your child feels and how to break the cycle.
Inside access to a school psychologist: how schools work, who to work with, and what your school can do.
A real student's case, step by step, showing how the school got them back to class.
What to do when your child refuses to go to therapy.
How IDEA and Section 504 protect and help school-avoidant children.
How to communicate with your child in a way that extinguishes anxiety rather than feeding it.
The four functions of school refusal behaviour and which treatments each one calls for.
An introduction to the SRAS-R from Dr. Anne Marie Albano — one of its authors.
Schools' real capabilities and resources, so you know exactly what to ask for.
Why and how attendance policy modification belongs in a re-entry plan.
Accommodations and modifications that help a child get back into the building.
How to handle body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) common with anxiety.
Parental strategies to empower your child to persist in the face of fear.
The school avoidance dream team
Meet your instructors
Five leading clinicians, a school psychologist who gets students back to school, and a special education attorney experienced in school avoidance cases. Their lessons are only available inside the Master Class.
Anthony Puliafico, Ph.D.
Director, CUCARD Westchester — Columbia University
Associate professor of medical psychology at Columbia, directing an anxiety day program for adolescents with anxiety, OCD and school avoidance. Co-author of The OCD Workbook for Kids.
Dr. Anne Marie Albano
Founder & Director, CUCARD — Columbia University
Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia, co-author of over 200 articles and chapters, and co-author of the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS-R).
Dr. Jonathon Dalton
Founder & Director — Center for Anxiety & Behavioral Change
One of the country's leading psychologists treating anxiety-based school refusal, trained at Johns Hopkins / Kennedy Krieger and the Maryland Center for Anxiety Disorders.
Dr. John Piacentini
Director, CARES Center — UCLA
Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Child Psychology at UCLA, author of over 300 scientific publications on childhood anxiety, OCD and tic disorders.
Krystina Dawson, M.S.Ed.
School Psychologist & Founder — Center for One Consulting
Certified school psychologist and mental health supervisor with a decade as a special education coordinator, specialising in reintegration plans for school-avoidant students.
Andrew Meltzer, Esq.
Special Education Attorney — Sussan, Greenwald & Wesler
Super Lawyer honouree protecting the educational and disability rights of students, experienced in getting school-avoidant students back to school or into out-of-district placements.
Is this for me?
This Master Class is for you if…
You want to know how leading child anxiety clinics help school avoidance families.
You want to understand why CBT and exposure therapy work — and what they should look like in practice.
You want to learn how the cause of your child's avoidance dictates their treatment plan.
You're not sure your school is doing everything it could to get your child back.
Your school isn't helping and you want to know your rights.
Your child won't leave their room and you don't know what to do.
Your school won't provide accommodations or modifications.
You're confused about IEPs and 504s and how they apply to school avoidance.
Your child won't see a therapist and you don't know where to turn.
Your school says it can't modify the attendance policy and you're unsure that's correct.
Your school is responding punitively to your child.
You're considering pulling your child out and want to protect your rights and placement options.
This course is appropriate for every stage of school avoidance, from kindergarten through high school — whether it just started or you've been on this journey for years.
Answers inside
You will get answers to questions such as…
Never before have parents had access to this level of experienced professionals sharing comprehensive, specific information you can use right away.
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Can my school modify the attendance policy for my child?
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What do child anxiety specialists think about taking kids out of school?
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How do we know when our child needs a higher level of care — and what does that look like?
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Can our school punish my child for a manifestation of their disability?
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At what point should I hire a special education attorney or advocate?
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Can I hear a real-world, step-by-step reintegration plan that worked?
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What responses teach my child they can persist in the face of fear?
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How can I communicate with my child in a way that extinguishes anxiety?
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Which treatments are best for my child specifically?
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What do I do if I can't find a qualified therapist — or my child refuses to go?
Included
Helpful templates & documents
Worksheets, guides and templates we created so your school knows and follows best practices — the kind of thing that takes hours to find or build yourself.
Email template to request a school meeting to make a reintegration plan
Reintegration plan worksheet
School re-entry plan (useful for any reintegration strategy)
Guide to building thoughtful, effective reintegration plans
Listing of strategies, accommodations and modifications for school avoidance
Alternative assessment options you can suggest to your school
Exposure explainer with a school avoidance exposure hierarchy
Parent reflection worksheet
What parents say
“Our daughter is back after being out for 20 months”
Finding the School Avoidance Alliance and getting the Parent Master Class was the turning point for me — it was the first thing that really gave me the information we needed to address our daughter's situation. She was out of school for 20 months; she's been back four weeks now and is doing great.
“The Master Class is fantastic! I learned so much valuable info — practical tips about talking to teachers and working with school counselors as well as legal info. I thought I was very well informed beforehand but I still learned lots.”
“I would recommend this class to everyone dealing with school avoidance. Especially before things get worse and worse.”
“I wish I had this class in the summer of 2020. This class can make a huge difference for families at the beginning of the journey — so they don't get railroaded by the school.”
“I found the section of the course with the lawyer very empowering. Really good info, especially if the school avoidance is in early stages or if it has been ongoing and the school just isn't helping.”
“I wish I could have taken this course earlier when my son wouldn't start high school. I believe if I had, I would have been able to fight back more effectively when I had to request an evaluation three times.”
Get the Master Class
School Avoidance Master Class for Parents
$179
One-time payment · 24/7 access
- 7 modules, 37 lessons, 220 minutes of expert instruction
- Seven instructors: 5 clinicians, a school psychologist, an attorney
- All templates, worksheets and reintegration plan guides
- Watch at your own pace — share with your partner
Secure checkout — you'll complete your enrollment on the next page.
Built on a decade working with researchers, clinicians, schools, attorneys, advocates and families — and 10,000+ hours of research and expert interviews.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Seven modules, 37 lessons — about 3.5 hours in total. Each module runs 30–42 minutes and is made of lessons between 5 and 15 minutes. Every module and lesson is titled and described so you can watch at your convenience.
Please note: this Master Class is exclusively for parents. If you are a school or educator, we have professional development specialised for school teams.