Objective: To explore the effectiveness of family therapy on adolescent school refusal. Methods: One hundred outpatient adolescents with school refusal were selected. All the patients were divided into two groups through random number table method. The intervention group (50 patients) received family therapy combined with cognitive therapy, and the control group (50 patients) received no intervention. Cognitive therapy was evaluated by the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Severity Impression Scale (CGI-S), Family Dynamics Self-Assessment Scale, and information on going back to school was collected. Results: After intervention, score in SAS, CGI-S, CBCL (father-reported), CBCL (mother-reported), family atmosphere, logic family, disease awareness, and personality significantly decreased (P<0.05). No significant differences were found before intervention. However, the intervention group showed lower scores in all the above indicators and higher rates of going back to school (92% vs 70%)(χ2=7.86, P<0.05). Conclusion Family therapy can effectively improve emotions such as anxiety and depressive symptoms and help going back to school in adolescents with school refusal.