Specialized treatment for school avoidance in young people (ages 7-24)
Start treatment in a matter of weeks
Expert 3-person care team
Trusted by thousands of families
Covered by most major insurance
We proudly partner with many major insurance providers in our service area. Check our full insurance list here.
Treating school avoidance takes a team approach:
Child
Addressing school avoidance starts with the right treatment. Our evidence-based approach helps kids re-engage with school through structured exposures and skills that build confidence, one step at a time.
Parents & Caregivers
School avoidance affects the whole family. That’s why we provide parents with support and practical tools to encourage their child to take brave steps back to school.
School & Community
We partner with schools and other important adults in a child’s life to ensure that everyone is following the same plan and using a consistent approach to support the child’s return to school.
InStride Care Team
Every child at InStride gets a dedicated team: a therapist, exposure coach, and psychiatrist who work together to guide the family through school-re-entry and lasting progress.
We cannot begin to tell you what a difference we have seen in our daughter since beginning InStride. She’s gone from not attending her classes to going to all of them, having a part- time job after school and making new friends.
– Parent of an InStride Graduate
Care that leads to lasting change
Research-based treatment focused on skill development so that you can get back to doing the things you love.
9 in 10
patients with difficulty attending school at intake reported reduction in anxiety symptoms following treatment at InStride1
91%
of patients with difficulty attending school at intake reported they would recommend InStride Health to a friend2
97%
of caregivers of patients with difficulty attending school at intake reported they would recommend InStride Health to a friend3
- 90% assessed among patients age >=13 with baseline GAD-7 score >=10, with reported difficulty attending school at intake, and complete data at graduation. Effect size for individual change was large (Cohen’s d 1.5; p<.0001).
- Measured by Satisfaction with Services Scale assessed among patients age >=13 with reported difficulty attending school at intake, and complete data at graduation.
- Measured by Satisfaction with Services Scale assessed among caregivers of patients with reported difficulty attending school at intake, and complete data at graduation.
How it works
CBT & Exposure
Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—the gold standard for treating anxiety and OCD—our evidence-based approach focuses on exposure therapy to help kids, teens, and young adults face their fears and build resilience that lasts a lifetime.
Parent and Caregiver Support
We provide comprehensive support through individual and group sessions where parents and caregivers learn practical strategies to help create a supportive home environment. They also have the opportunity to connect with others facing similar challenges.
Expert 3-Person Care Team
Throughout treatment, you’ll work with a highly trained care team of a licensed therapist, exposure coach, and a psychiatrist that has expertise not only in anxiety and OCD, but also in working specifically with young people who have school avoidance. Our care team also collaborates with other people involved in your care, as appropriate.
Real-Time Support
Traditional therapy for anxiety and OCD often leaves young people on their own between sessions, making it challenging to practice new skills consistently. At InStride, we provide real-time support during and between sessions – our care team helps young people as they practice exposures and learn skills in everyday moments.
Frequently Asked Questions
To contact our team directly with other questions, please email us at info@instride.health or call 855.438.8331
We engage patients and families in a fully virtual care journey that research has shown to be as effective as in-person treatment for youth with anxiety and OCD. The treatment plan is personalized to fit into the patient’s life, rather than the other way around. While we offer regularly scheduled therapy sessions, we also have real-time coaching and check-ins via phone and text to help engage kids in treatment and increase accountability, as well as opportunities to be supported by the therapist/coach virtually while doing exposure exercises out in the community (using portable devices and headphones).
Exposure therapy is a key component of CBT that involves purposely confronting the situations, objects, and places that trigger your anxiety and/or OCD symptoms to break the cycle of fear and avoidance.
Your InStride therapist will work with you to develop a roadmap for exposure practice. Your therapist and exposure coach will then support you in practicing your exposures out in the real world—at school, in stores, in restaurants, in your home, and in your neighborhood—wherever you need it most. We do this at a pace that feels right for you, and we’ll never ask you to do something that is unsafe or dangerous or that we, as the care team, wouldn’t do ourselves.
Yes! Our only location requirement is that the child must be physically located in a state we serve while treatment is going on.
At InStride, care is human-centered and led by expert therapists, psychiatrists, and coaches. Technology is used behind the scenes to enable efficiency and enhance consistency in care delivery. Used responsibly and with clear ethical safeguards and oversight, our AI tools streamline documentation and strengthen operations —allowing providers to focus on what matters most: delivering specialized, compassionate, and personalized treatment.
Yes, your dedicated psychiatrist can prescribe medications. However, since we meet virtually, we cannot prescribe controlled substances, such as stimulants and benzodiazepines.
Our InStride care teams are not only experts in treating anxiety and OCD, but also in engaging young people and finding ways to make care meaningful to them. We’ve successfully treated many youth who were initially hesitant about virtual therapy, and the virtual element has made care much more accessible to them.
Care at InStride is so much more than just sitting at a computer for a traditional telehealth appointment. Our therapists design individualized exposure plans that are tailored to specific needs with exposures that may take place at home, in the community (e.g., in school, stores, restaurants, etc.), and in the neighborhood. Our coaches work hard to ensure that sessions are fun and active and incorporate the young person’s interests – this could look like having a mini dance party, playing a game, or going on a scavenger hunt as rewards for doing exposures and practicing skills. We want the young person to be fully engaged in treatment so that they can get back to doing what matters most to them.
Our care team is well versed in managing the avoidance that comes with anxiety, so rest assured that we know how to work with kids, teens, and young adults who don’t want to be onscreen. In fact, there are times when we frame getting and staying on screen during a session as an exposure in and of itself.
You don't have to do this alone.
Support is just a step away.
Talk to Us
Have a question about InStride Health? We're here to help.
For Families and General Inquiry:
Phone: 855.438.8331
Email: info@instride.health
For Providers:
Phone: 855.438.8331
Email: providersupport@instride.health
