# @juleswaller_ on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DclCrs7TFOi
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69794032-juleswaller-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/76dbd2eb64.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28T09:39:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Julie Waller (Jules) | School Refusal Support (@juleswaller_) — https://gondola.cc/juleswaller_

## Caption

100+ days of missed school.
Meltdowns before the front door.
Being told it was “defiance,” “manipulation,” “too soft as a parent.”

None of it was that.

It was a nervous system stuck in survival mode - and no amount of pushing, bribing, or CBT worksheets was going to talk a dysregulated body into calm.

I lived in the trenches longer than I want to admit. So many of our days were spent going from psych appointment to psych appointment, and from school meetings to more school meetings.

Round and round we went - despite my own years at university studying in the mental health space, I couldn’t see it either.  Not until I stepped back from all of it.

Once I realised the whole “push through” thing was never going to work - everything changed.

One small, body-first step at a time.

She’s now at her first-choice university.

If you’re in the trenches right now - it’s not defiance.
It’s survival mode.

And there’s a way back.

Comment TOOLKIT and I’ll send it to you.

With understanding,

Jules ❤️

#schoolrefusal #schoolanxiety #teenanxiety #gotoschool #schoolcounselor

## Stats

- **Views:** 865
- **Likes:** 2
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 1

## Tags

schoolrefusal, schoolanxiety, gotoschool, schoolcounselor, teenanxiety

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