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DBT In Schools (Elizabeth Dexter-Mazz)/Pioneer RESA - Teresa Hearn

PLEASE EMAIL TERESA HEARN FOR REGISTRATION APPROVAL @ thearn@pioneerresa.org

The DBT STEPS-A curriculum is designed to help adolescents develop coping strategies and decision-making abilities, especially under emotional distress. The curriculum is based on the skills component of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that has been shown to be effective with individuals experiencing both high-risk behaviors as well as mild to moderate levels of anxiety, depression,   ADHD, and other disorders. There are four primary modules of skills that are taught in DBT STEPS-A: Mindfulness skills, Distress Tolerance skills, Emotion Regulation skills, and Interpersonal Effectiveness skills. The focused populations for DBT STEPS-A is Tier I of a multitier system of support or RTI system, and the curriculum can be a central component for students who receive Tier II and Tier III services as well. It is important to note, that by teaching the DBT STEPS-A curriculum to students, your school is NOT providing comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy clinical treatment to students. DBT STEPS-A is a 30-lesson curriculum designed to be taught once a week over the course of the school year, or twice a week per semester. The curriculum includes detailed lesson plans with teacher scripts, discussion points, examples, and exercises. Additionally, there are student handouts and homework sheets for each corresponding lesson and a module knowledge test at the end of each section. Each lesson is based on a 50-minute class period and can be adapted for shorter and longer periods of time. The curriculum also can be adapted to be taught over two years if needed. DBT STEPS-A is designed as a universal curriculum; general education teachers such as, but not limited to, health and wellness teachers are the intended implementers. School counselors, school psychologists or other school mental health staff can also teach DBT STEPS-A, though these professionals often have full schedules and can face difficulty when trying to push a curriculum into another class.

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