
Mental Health Consulting Program For Parents
Anxiety-Related School
Refusal
What is mental health consultation for school refusal: Mental health consultation happens when a mental health therapist leverages their clinical specialty to help address mental health-related community problems.
Anxiety-related school refusal happens when a school-aged minor is no longer able to consistently attend school due to an underlying anxiety disorder/issue that is triggered by the learning environment. Schools often have limited resources to help parents of children experiencing anxiety-related school refusal.
In addition, sending your child to therapy to address their anxiety-related school refusal issues does not address the multi-faceted issue of how to reintegrate your child back into the learning environment. Consulting with an anxiety specialist can help bridge the gap between therapeutically addressing a child's anxiety issue while also working with educators to create an evidence-based re-entry plan.


Dr. Shawn Nabors: Is a West Michigan anxiety specialist who uses his clinical specialty in anxiety disorders to work as a mental health consultant in the State of Michigan for anxiety-related school refusal. Since 2015 Dr. Nabors has worked with parents, K-12 schools, and colleges to help students rejoin learning environments.
School Refusal Consultation Program: Dr. Shawn Nabors provides anxiety-related school refusal consultation to parents and schools through his evidence-based re-entry program called Safe Places & Safe Faces. This program is comprised of the following elements.
Stage 1: Background & Assessment: (1-2 hrs)
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Family history interview
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History and overview of minor's school refusal history
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Clinical assessment of minors underlying anxiety disorder/issue
Stage 3: Consultation with School: (1-2 hrs)
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Consultation with childs school to assess IEP & 504 resources to accommodate Safe Places & Safe Faces re-entry plan
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Meeting with school & parents to implement Safe Places & Safe Faces re-entry plan.
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Set start date for re-entry plan.
Stage 2: Parent Coaching & Pre-Re-Entry Interventions: (2-3 hrs)
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Brief parent coaching on advanced emotion/anxiety regulation techniques for minor child.
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Brief cognitive-restructuring session with child & consultant
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Brief pre-re-entry exposure exercises for child and parent
Stage 4: Evaluation & Revision of Re-Entry Plan (1-4 hrs)
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Meet weekly/bi-weekly with parents and or school to evaluate the effectiveness of re-entry plan
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Revise plan as needed.
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Terminate plan when objectives for re-entry are met.
Consultation Structure: Meeting with parents and child are scheduled as 1-hour consultation sessions. Meetings with school officials are billed by the total pro-rated time of the meeting.
Consultation Rate: Dr. Shawn Nabors consultation rate is $185 per hour.