Article ID: 23-020
In this study, the effectiveness and drawbacks of a comprehensive support approach incorporating a technique selection method for in-school fear and anxiety were examined. The approach was applied by a school counselor to a first-year junior high school student who was not attending school because of fear of the homeroom teacher and reprimanding situations, and anxiety about other students. The main criteria for technique selection were the presence or absence of dialogue and an antianxiety response. Assertiveness training, stimulus fading, and imagery desensitization were applied to address fear of the homeroom teacher, whereas imagery desensitization and in vivo desensitization using inner speech were applied to address anxious situations of eye-to-eye confrontation with classmates. Reshaping of school attendance was performed through the successive approximation method using the health room, learning guidance, physical fitness guidance, and appropriate rest guidance. After approximately two months of intervention, the student could attend all classes and extracurricular activities and remained in full attendance until he entered college. The student’s behavior demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed technique selection for reducing school fear and anxiety. One challenge identified was related to guiding preparatory studies and introducing objective assessments.
