Engaging Without Escalating: Motivational Interviewing for Anxiety-Based School Refusal

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Register by: November 14, 2026

An Attachment Informed Approach to Navigate Anxiety-Based School Refusal

This three-part training series provides an attachment-informed and trauma-aware framework for understanding and responding to anxiety-based school refusal. Participants will move from understanding attachment and nervous-system dynamics underlying school refusal to creating practical strategies to support educational engagement.

Part 3:
Engaging Without Escalating: Motivational Interviewing for Anxiety-Based School Refusal

When a student is anxious about school, pressure to attend can easily become a power struggle. Motivational Interviewing (MI) offers a different approach: rather than trying to convince a student to change, adults can create the conditions for the student to identify their own reasons for change and develop greater confidence in their ability to tolerate what feels difficult.

This training introduces educators, truancy officers, school counselors, and administrators to core Motivational Interviewing principles and their application to anxiety-based school refusal. Participants will learn how to recognize and respond to resistance, avoid communication patterns that inadvertently increase defensiveness, and use reflective listening, strategic questions, affirmations, and autonomy-supportive language to strengthen engagement.

The training integrates MI with an attachment-informed understanding of anxiety and avoidance, emphasizing the importance of relationship, emotional regulation, autonomy, and collaboration. Participants will explore how to have more productive conversations about attendance while maintaining appropriate expectations and boundaries - and how to shift from asking, "How do we get this student to go to school?" toward, "How can we help this student develop the capacity and motivation to face what feels difficult?"