Resources for Teachers

How DBT in Schools helps teachers

A high school junior with anxiety stands up, ready to walk out of class rather than tackle a test. A seventh grader opens his phone on the way to school and sees classmates mocking him on social media. A ninth grader can’t focus at after school sports practice because she fears teammates will blame her for any future loss…

The reasons teachers can sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed are numerous. And that’s not including the extraordinary challenges of helping students achieve academic success.

 DBT in Schools helps you provide your students with skills that can help them improve interpersonal communications, increase mindfulness, regulate their emotions, and build resilience. By incorporating DBT in Schools activities into your curriculum, you will also be able to decrease issues, disruption, and stress in your classroom.

Importantly, Cayuga County, your school district’s leadership, and your school administrators wish to make implementation of DBT in Schools as easy for you as possible! Key to that objective is a well-conceived, proven, and easy-to-implement curriculum; direct access to your school’s onsite therapist and DBT in Schools specialist; and this resource page, which will expand and become more helpful over time.

To start, check out our FAQs below or download them here.

FAQs for Teachers

What is DBT in Schools?

DBT is short for “Dialectic Behavioral Therapy” – which is basically a skills-based approach to helping individuals manage emotions, build healthy relationships, and cope with stress by balancing acceptance and change. Cayuga County’s DBT in Schools program brings many of the skills from this approach into your classroom, where it can benefit all students without a one-to-one therapy context. More specifically, DBT in Schools is intended to help you, as a teacher, introduce DBT’s practical skills to students in order to help them manage emotions, tolerate stress, improve interpersonal relationships, and benefit from the practice of mindfulness.

Why is a school environment an appropriate setting for accessing students?

Schools are where students spend most of their time, making them the perfect place for teaching emotional resilience and coping skills. By integrating DBT into the school environment, we ensure early intervention, reduce mental health stigma, and provide consistent, accessible support for all students. When social-emotional learning is a part of everyday education, students are better equipped to manage stress, succeed academically, and build healthy relationships. Let’s make school a place where mental wellness is just as important as academic success!

Why is a school environment an appropriate setting for accessing young people?

The school environment is frequently acknowledged as a fitting location for accessing young people where preventive skills against future problems can be taught to the general school body and “at risk” kids can be identified for more focused intervention or referral. The school environment offers an outstanding opportunity to learn skills and strategies to protect against, cushion or delay the onset of emotional issues.

What are the goals for DBT in Schools as implemented in Cayuga County schools?

It’s possible to cultivate a healthy lifestyle for mental wellness, just as programs have been introduced to promote physical health. By incorporating mental health skills via DBT into the universal school culture, we will give all students the knowledge of how to address a variety of challenges they may face in the future.

Typical goals would include aiding students in effective problem solving or how to most effectively communicate with their peers and teachers. Other goals would include helping students manage difficult emotional situations, cope with stress, and make better decisions.

Why should you care about DBT for students?

Navigating the roller coaster of emotions for kids can be difficult but envision having the right tools to help them do so. DBT in Schools encourages students to control their emotions, and it discourages black-and-while thinking – avoiding extremes like “everything is terrible” or “I’m perfect.” This approach allows students to deal with hard times more easily while boosting their mood.

Why is it needed today?

In today’s world, young people face increasing stress, anxiety, and mental health challenges, making it essential to equip them with skills to manage emotions and build resilience. DBT helps students navigate daily challenges – from managing conflicts with peers and handling test anxiety to effectively asking for what they need. It also provides critical skills for coping with overwhelming emotions, reducing self-harm behaviors, and managing suicidal thoughts in a supportive and constructive way.

By integrating DBT into schools, we empower students with the tools they need to handle both big and small challenges with confidence and emotional stability.

Can DBT in Schools skills be of use outside of school or once young people graduate?

Most definitely. DBT in Schools’ skills bring mental wellness strategies to schools that will educate the whole child, not just the academic child, and allow youth to obtain their education potential today and become leaders for tomorrow.

Think of these skills comparable to a toolkit for navigating life’s ups and downs, both in school, outside of school and beyond school.

Where did this curriculum come from?

The program is being introduced by Cayuga County Mental Health but it’s a comprehensive and well-proven curriculum developed by the originators of the DBT in Schools concept, Drs. James Mazza and Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza.

How will it be implemented in our school and in my classroom?

Each school district who adopts the program (and it’s optional) will have a DBT specialist/onsite therapist in school a couple of days a week to teach the teachers how to adapt the skills in their classrooms. Those same therapists will also be available for students who require more intensive DBT engagement.

Will I have the tools, training and a certified therapist to help me implement the program?

Your onsite DBT specialist/onsite therapist will help you introduce DBT in Schools’ skills in your classroom. He/she will also be available to answer your questions, aid students needing one-on-one attention, etc. There is also a website you can visit to access a growing list of resources.

It’s important to note that school administrators know that you are extremely busy as it is. That’s why they are going to make this easy for you: The therapist down the hall is going to make it easy. Plus you’ll be given all the necessary tools that are not going to be difficult to learn, not be difficult to implement and not interrupt your current teaching schedule.

How will success be measured?

In schools that have successfully implemented DBT in Schools, outcomes are typically measured through a combination of:

  • Self-report questionnaires where student complete surveys to assess their own perceptions of their emotional regulation, ability to cope with stress and use of DBT in Schools’ skills.
  • Behavioral observation scales in which teachers may use checklists to track specific behaviors related to DBT in Schools’ skills, such as appropriate responses to frustration, active listening during discussions or ability to self-calm.
  • Teacher feedback where teachers can provide qualitative feedback on how students are applying DBT in Schools’ skills in the classroom, such as improvements in classroom behavior.

In the meantime, if you have questions about the advantages or procedures for introducing DBT in Schools in YOUR classroom – please feel free to contact your DBT in Schools onsite specialist. Cayuga County Mental Health will also be sending out occasional updates through ParentSquare, social media, and this DBT in Schools website.

Got questions? We’re all ears!


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