At a glance
- Psychosocial skills training and cognitive behavioral interventions teach specific skills to students.
- These skills can help students cope with challenging situations, set goals, understand their thoughts, and change behaviors using problem-solving strategies.
Overview
Psychosocial skills training asks students to explore whether their behaviors align with their personal values. Cognitive behavioral interventions teach students to identify their own unhelpful thoughts and replace them with thoughts that are more helpful. Students might practice helpful coping behaviors and find positive activities to try. Doing these things can improve mood and other symptoms of mental distress.
Promote acceptance and commitment to change
Schools can help promote acceptance and positive behavior change for students through psychosocial skills training and dialectical behavior therapy. Psychosocial skills training asks students to explore whether their behaviors align with their personal values. Students who see that their behavior does not match their values can decide to make behavior changes. These trainings also help students accept what they cannot change and focus on what they can change. Dialectical behavior therapy teaches mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment skills.
Provide cognitive behavioral interventions
Cognitive behavioral interventions for schools often include multiple sessions. They can be used for one student or a small group. Sessions often follow a standardized manual of activities to help students examine their own thoughts and behaviors. The interventions can include asking students to share what they learn about their thoughts and behaviors with their parents and other people. In some interventions, session leaders focus on a specific topic. Other interventions target mental health symptoms related to depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress.
Engage students in coping skills training groups
Coping skills training groups use principles of cognitive behavioral intervention to teach students skills to help them handle specific problems. Students can also use these skills to help them cope when their lives are changing. Similar to social, emotional, and behavioral learning programs, coping skills training often helps build resilience (ability to “bounce back” when bad things happen). Students can practice skills outside of the small group, as they would with social skills and emotional development lessons.
Focus on equity
Students who have been exposed to trauma may receive trauma-focused or trauma-informed interventions in school.
Trauma-informed cognitive behavioral interventions meet the unique needs of students exposed to traumatic experiences.
These interventions teach problem-solving and relaxation techniques. The interventions also help reduce trauma-related symptoms, including behavioral challenges. Moreover, trauma-informed interventions can improve students' coping strategies.
Implementation tips
Cognitive behavioral interventions and psychosocial skills training help with many kinds of student needs. They can be used at multiple grade levels. Leaders can:
- Work with school mental health staff to find ways for students to practice their new behaviors and coping skills.
- Use the Multitiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework to ensure that students are appropriately matched with classroom, small-group, or individual interventions that meet their needs.
