Case Study Illustrating Family Systems Interventions in a School Setting to Address Anxiety and School Avoidance

ABSTRACT

Collaborating with parents is an important skill set for school-based mental health professionals. While school districts expect school psychologists and school counselors to facilitate family-school collaboration, most receive little training in family counseling and systems theory in their graduate programs. School psychologists and school counselors could benefit from resources that demonstrate how to use a family systems approach in a school setting. This article uses a single case study to illustrate how school-based mental health professionals can use brief family counseling to address anxiety and school avoidance. The article describes a family systems approach and interventions such as reframing, subsystems work, consultation, and encouraging gradual progress.

KEYWORDS:

• Family therapy
• schools
• anxiety
• school avoidance
• family systems theory

Notes

¹ The case of Noah is a composite based on multiple cases with similar clinical presentations involving anxiety, school avoidance, and family dynamics. These cases had similar successful responses to family interventions. Using a case that is an amalgam of multiple cases, absent any identifying information, provides the reader with an authentic clinical description and “takes reasonable steps to disguise the person” (American Psychological Association (APA), 2017; Standard 4.07).