Everyone meant well. The professionals. The school. The well-meaning people around us . 🔸 “Face the fear.” 🔸 “Build tolerance.” 🔸 “Confidence comes from doing hard things.” And here’s the thing - they weren’t wrong. That advice is part of recovery. I’ve seen it work. But with school refusal, it’s not the first step. Everyday anxiety and school refusal are not the same thing. With everyday anxiety you can move straight to facing the fear - because the nervous system is regulated enough to learn from the experience. With school refusal, the nervous system is in chronic alarm. The part of the brain that learns “I can handle this” goes offline under threat. You can’t build tolerance in a body that’s in survival mode. The sequence matters. Nervous system first. Then everything else - including facing the fear. We got the advice right. We got the order wrong. That cost us a year. 🍒 The School Refusal Recovery Toolkit is in the link in bio. - Jules ❤️ #schoolrefusal #...