Teach Life-Changing DBT Skills in Your School
Join our evidence-based trainings to learn how to implement DBT STEPS-A or integrate DBT-informed counseling strategies into your school setting.
Implementation of the DBT STEPS-A
Social Emotional Learning Curriculum- 3 Day Training 16.5 CE Hours
Introduction to DBT Informed School Counseling Strategies: 2 Day Training
11 CE Hours
Why Teach DBT Skills in Schools?
Adolescents today are facing record levels of emotional distress, and schools are on the front lines. DBT STEPS-A teaches students the same life skills that therapists use in clinical settings—adapted for the classroom. These universal SEL skills help students improve focus, emotion regulation, decision-making, and relationships—skills they’ll carry into adulthood.
Based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Adapted for non-clinical, educational settings
Aligned with Tier I MTSS but effective across all levels
Used in hundreds of schools nationwide
Research-backed and grounded in decades of clinical expertise
Foreward by Dr. Marsha Linehan
Choose the Training That Fits Your Role
Implementation of the DBT STEPS-A Social Emotional Learning Curriculum
16.5 CE Hours
Learn how to implement the full DBT STEPS-A curriculum in your middle or high school setting. Designed to be delivered at Tier I, this training prepares you to teach essential SEL skills to your students using a structured, engaging approach.
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DBT Skills in Schools: Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) is a universal social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed for middle/high school students in educational settings. The DBT STEPS-A curriculum is designed to help adolescents develop coping strategies and decision-making abilities to use in school and into the future. The DBT STEPS-A curriculum is based on the skills of comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that have shown to be effective with both adults and adolescents experiencing mild to severe levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties. The skills have been adapted for a universal, nonclinical, student population. The curriculum is designed to be taught at Tier I of a multi-tier or RTI system, however, it has been effective at all levels of MTSS implementation.
The training design of DBT STEPS-A curriculum is to establish four basic elements necessary in implementing the curriculum effectively:
A. Background and Development of the DBT STEPS-A curriculum
B. Structure and Implementation Considerations
C. Overview and demonstration of DBT STEPS-A lessons
D. Preparation and participant practice of teaching DBT STEPS-A lessons
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Introduction to DBT Informed School Counseling Strategies
11 CE Hours
A 2-day training that gives you practical tools to use DBT strategies in counseling sessions, hallway conversations, and skills coaching “on the fly.” Includes guidance on chain analysis, behavior targeting, and adapting DBT for MTSS counseling support.
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This 2 day training will provide school mental health staff with an overview of how Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and strategies can be provided within the school environment using a MTSS model. School mental health staff will be taught how to identify student goals and behavioral targets for counseling sessions as well as the rationale of using a chain analysis as a method of assessment and guide to determining effective solutions. Additionally, participants will be provided step-by-step processes for providing skills coaching (based on DBT STEPS-A skills) to students “on the fly” when needed during the school day.
Who Should Attend :
School Counselors and Social Workers
School Mental Health Staff
Prevention Specialists
Behavioral Health Professionals
11 Instruction Hours
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Upcoming Training Opportunities
“I have an entire program that comes with a full tool box that, as a team, we can implement. The “plug and play” curriculum with 30 lessons already scripted will help make it easy to incorporate into the pre-existing programs. ”
“I was unsure how a three day training would be, but you did a great job of keeping us entertained and engaged with the content of the presentations. You made us feel comfortable and have provided us with some very valuable tools!”
“The way I talk and interact with my students will be enhanced through this practice. I also believe that helping students learn the DBT way to be mindful and how to regulate their emotions will ultimately positively impact my class but also create a better member of our society. I also like the distress tolerance piece, far too many students are unable to be in a place where they are uncomfortable and this is a very important adult skill.”
FAQs
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No. These trainings are designed for school professionals with no DBT background.
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Both. Individuals, small teams, and full-district implementations are welcome.
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Yes—participants earn 11 or 16 CE hours depending on the training.
Start Building Emotionally Resilient Classrooms Today
These aren’t just trainings—they’re your blueprint for helping students build emotional strength and lifelong coping skills. Join the hundreds of schools already using DBT STEPS-A.