DBT in Schools, LLC

When screen time starts to replace sleep, movement, face-to-face connection, or other meaningful activities, it can affect emotional well-being.

Screens aren't inherently harmful, and balance is key.

In DBT, we look at the WHY beyond the behavior and ask:

➡️ Is a student seeking connection?

➡️ Relief from boredom?

➡️ A way to cope with difficult emotions?

Understanding the need behind screen use helps adults respond more effectively.

This summer, help students make time for movement, creativity, connection, rest, and yes, even some screen time.

Download our free Screen Time, Social Media & Summer Mental Health guide at

Summer often brings a welcome break from school routines, and it can also create new challenges for children and teens. With more free time, many families notice an increase in screen time, gaming, and social media use. While technology can provide entertainment, connection, and learning opportunities, it can also become a way to cope with boredom, loneliness, stress, or difficult emotions.

Our newest resource guide was created to help parents better understand the role screens play in their child's life while supporting healthy habits that promote emotional well-being throughout the summer months.

Inside, you'll explore:
- Common summer challenges related to screen time and social media
- Three DBT skills that can help children build balance and emotional resilience
- Why the **L in PLEASE stands for Limit Screen Time**
- Practical alternatives to screens that encourage connection, creativity, movement, and mindfulness
- Simple strategies to support a healthier relationship with technology

Rather than focusing on eliminating screens, this guide encourages families to create balance, build meaningful connections, and support the emotional needs that often exist beneath screen-related behaviors.

Download your copy and discover practical ways to help your child thrive this summer, both on and off the screens.

https://www.dbtinschools.com/ -2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about distress tolerance is that the goal is to “make feelings go away.” In DBT, that is not the goal.

Distress tolerance is about moving through difficult emotions without making the situation worse through impulsive reactions, avoidance, shutdown, aggression, or harmful coping strategies.

It is the pause before reacting.
The skill of staying grounded during hard moments.
The ability to tolerate discomfort long enough to make a wise decision instead of an impulsive one.

And these are not just adult skills.

Students use distress tolerance every day:
• navigating peer conflict
• handling frustration
• coping with disappointment
• managing anxiety before tests or presentations
• regulating emotions after social struggles or overwhelming moments

This is one of the reasons DBT skills matter so much in schools. Emotional resilience is not something students magically develop later in life. It is something that can be taught, practiced, modeled, and strengthened over time.

Skills for today. Resilience for life.

Interested in learning more about bringing DBT-informed skills into schools?

Summer open enrollment is now available for upcoming all DBT in Schools Curricula.

Visit https://www.dbtinschools.com/all-training-opportunities to learn more.

The best is YETI to come.

One of our favorite parts of DBT STEPS-E is helping schools create environments where emotional skill-building feels approachable, engaging, and developmentally meaningful for younger students.

Big concepts do not have to feel intimidating to teach.

Through stories, visuals, interactive activities, and developmentally appropriate language, students begin building the foundation for emotional awareness, coping skills, communication, and problem solving early.

And summer is one of the best times for educators, counselors, and school mental health professionals to complete live virtual training and earn CE hours without trying to balance the pace of the regular school year at the same time.

Join us this summer for live virtual trainings.
Visit https://www.dbtinschools.com/all-training-opportunities to view upcoming training dates and register.

DEAR MAN is one of the DBT interpersonal effectiveness skills that helps students learn how to communicate clearly, advocate for themselves, and navigate difficult conversations more effectively.

For many students, communication challenges can look like:
• shutting down
• avoiding conflict completely
• becoming reactive during disagreements
• struggling to ask for help
• difficulty setting boundaries with peers
• saying “yes” when they really want to say “no”

DEAR MAN gives students a structure for expressing needs while staying respectful, mindful, and goal-focused.

These are not just “school skills.” They are life skills students carry into friendships, family relationships, higher education, and future workplaces.

Teaching students how to communicate effectively is part of supporting emotional wellbeing.

DBT STEPS-A helps schools bring these conversations and skills into real classroom settings in practical, developmentally appropriate ways.

Summer open enrollment is now available for upcoming DBT in Schools trainings.

Visit https://www.dbtinschools.com/all-training-opportunities to learn more.

In DBT STEPS-A (Grades 6–12), students learn the TIP skill:
• Temperature
• Intense Exercise
• Paced Breathing

In DBT STEPS-E (K–5), those same evidence-based concepts are adapted developmentally into the CAP skill:
• Cold Water or Cold Object
• Activity
• Paced Breathing

CAP helps elementary students learn emotional regulation skills in language and strategies that make sense for their developmental level while creating a natural bridge into the DBT STEPS-A curriculum later on.

This developmental continuum is one of the things that makes DBT in Schools unique. The skills taught in DBT STEPS-E are adapted directly from the evidence-based lessons in DBT STEPS-A, allowing students to build familiarity with emotional regulation concepts early and continue strengthening those same skills as they grow.

Early support matters and so does teaching skills in ways students can actually understand and use.

Summer open enrollment is now available for upcoming DBT STEPS-E and DBT STEPS-A trainings.

Visit the link in bio to learn more.

“A life worth living is built one small wise choice at a time.” — Dr. Marsha Linehan

In schools, those small choices often begin with emotional awareness.

For some students, identifying and verbalizing emotions can feel overwhelming. Tools like the DBT in Schools emotion stick help create simple, visual ways for students to communicate how they are feeling without needing to find the “right” words in the moment.

Sometimes early support looks like:
• noticing a change
• creating space for communication
• helping students pause and identify emotions
• giving students language for what they are experiencing

Small skills. Small moments. Big impact over time.

This week’s Mental Health Awareness Month focus on early childhood mental health support is a reminder that emotional skill-building belongs in schools, classrooms, and everyday interactions with students.

Interested in bringing DBT-informed tools and skills into your school community?

Summer open enrollment is now available for upcoming DBT STEPS-E, DBT STEPS-A, and School Counseling Strategies trainings.

Visit https://www.dbtinschools.com/all-training-opportunities to learn more.

For this week’s Mental Health Awareness Month focus on early support in childhood, we’re highlighting something that often gets overlooked: students need skills before they need crisis support.

The STOP skill helps students slow down when emotions start getting big instead of reacting on impulse.

S — Stop: Pause before reacting
T — Take a step back: Breathe and create space
O — Observe: Notice thoughts, emotions, and what is happening around you
P — Proceed mindfully: Choose the action that will help, not hurt

Skills like STOP can help students learn to pause, regulate emotions, and make choices aligned with their goals and values. These are not just classroom tools; they are life skills students carry into friendships, family relationships, and future challenges.

The earlier we teach these skills, the more opportunities students have to practice them before emotional patterns become harder to change.

Interested in bringing DBT-informed skills to your students?

Summer open enrollment is now available for upcoming trainings including:
• DBT STEPS-E (K–5)
• DBT STEPS-A (Grades 6–12)
• DBT-Informed School Counseling Strategies

Learn more and reserve your spot.
https://www.dbtinschools.com/all-training-opportunities

This week’s Mental Health Awareness Month focus is on early support in childhood and recognizing signs that a young person may need help.

One of the biggest misconceptions in youth mental health is that emotional struggles always look dramatic or obvious. In schools, they often don’t.

Sometimes it looks like:
• increased irritability
• shutting down during group work
• perfectionism
• refusal behaviors
• frequent stomachaches or nurse visits
• emotional outbursts that seem “too big” for the situation
• difficulty recovering from disappointment
• withdrawing from peers
• suddenly not wanting to come to school

Children communicate distress behaviorally long before they have the language to explain it.

This is why early emotional skill development matters.

When students learn how to identify emotions, tolerate discomfort, ask for support, and regulate physiological stress responses early, we reduce the likelihood that those struggles escalate later without support.

DBT STEPS-E was designed specifically to bring these conversations and skills into elementary settings in developmentally appropriate ways for K–2 and grades 3–5.

Mental health support should not begin only after crisis.
It should begin with skills, language, connection, and early intervention.

Training and classroom tools → https://www.dbtinschools.com/resources