Back to Class: Behavioral Strategies for Emotional-Based School Avoidance
Practice, Research & Resources With McLean Hospital
July 2026
Learn evidence-based strategies to assess and treat emotional-based school avoidance linked to anxiety and OCD.
School absenteeism has increased dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, with anxiety and other mental health challenges contributing to school avoidance.
This webinar will describe how to assess and treat emotional-based school avoidance (EBSA) due to anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The presenters discuss strategies for targeting EBSA, intervening at various system levels, and overcoming barriers to treating school avoidance.
Learning objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants can:
- Describe EBSA in the context of anxiety and OCD.
- Discuss evidence-based strategies, including exposure and response prevention, to address EBSA at different system levels.
- Identify common barriers to addressing EBSA and strategies to overcome them.
Presenter disclaimer
Michelle Silverman, PhD, and Elan French, PhD, have working relationships with McLean Hospital. As such, they have both a financial and an intellectual interest in the webinar content. The purpose of this presentation is to provide strategies for emotional-based school avoidance.
This program does not offer CE credit.
Paid for by
This topical webinar for APA members is paid for by McLean Hospital. The content was created by Mclean Hospitalopens in new window and does not reflect the views of APA or its editorial staff. Email Advertising to learn more. McLean Hospital is a top-ranked, free-standing psychiatric hospital; a leader in psychiatric care, research, and education; and the largest psychiatric hospital of Harvard Medical School.
Presenters
Michelle Silverman, PhD
Silverman received her PhD in school psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She completed her predoctoral internship at Massachusetts General Hospital and her postdoctoral fellowship at the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP) and the McLean School Consultation Service at McLean Hospital. Silverman has worked at MAMP as a staff psychologist since 2021. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of OCD, anxiety disorders, and related disorders in youth. In addition to providing exposure and response prevention to adolescents ages 14–19 at MAMP, Silverman works closely with families and schools to help youth face their fears and return to functioning. Dr. Silverman also has a part-time private practice in which she treats adolescents and young adults with anxiety using evidence-based treatments.
Elan French, PhD
French is a clinical psychologist specializing in treating both youth and adults, with a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ youth. They have expertise in treating anxiety disorders, OCD, and eating disorders. Their primary treatment modalities include cognitive behavioral therapies as well as incorporating acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavior therapy skills. French completed postdoctoral training at Klarman Eating Disorder Center, and they are currently a staff psychologist at MAMP using group-based exposure and response prevention to treat youth with anxiety, OCD, and related disorders.
More in this series
Explores research on memory, trauma, and forgetting and how best to begin treatment
October 2023 On Demand Webinar
Explores ways in which clinicians can continue to meet the increasing needs of patients and families suffering from anxiety and OCD
May 2023 On Demand Webinar
Provides an overview of the epidemiology and treatment of substance use and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in women and girls
November 2022 On Demand Webinar
Covers obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders and the understanding of their clinical presentation and effective treatment interventions
May 2022 On Demand Webinar