Skip to main content

This project is made by Child Mind Institute

Professional Training

Mental Health Skill-Building Training Program

Mental Health Skill-Building Training Program

The Mental Health Skill-Building (MHSB) curriculum provides students with foundational coping skills drawn from cognitive behavioral interventions. Our training program is designed to give school staff the tools to deliver the MHSB curriculum and promote students’ individual growth and resilience.

Through our training program, school staff learn to implement six modules that help students better understand and regulate their emotions, evaluate thoughts, make choices about their behavior, interact effectively with others, and use mindfulness practices to navigate stressful situations. 

The MHSB curriculum is complementary to a variety of other social-emotional learning curricula. It is adapted for kindergarten through 12th grade, and all materials are available in both English and Spanish.

The MHSB curriculum can be delivered at either a classroom level for all students or in a small group format for at-risk students.

Curriculum Preview

Module 1: Understanding Feelings

Junior (K-2nd Grade) Manual



Junior (K-2nd Grade) Workbook


Module 3: Managing Thoughts

Youth (3rd-8th Grade) Manual



Youth (3rd-8th Grade) Workbook


Module 5: Managing Intense Emotions

Teen (7th-12th Grade) Manual



Teen (7th-12th Grade) Workbook


Who Our Training Program Is For

The MHSB training program is for school staff, including educators, paraprofessionals, mental health professionals, and administrators.

Training Program Components

Collaboration and Implementation Planning

  • Our staff meets with key school staff and administrators to lay the groundwork for successful implementation and sustainability of the MHSB curriculum.
  • Information gathered from needs and readiness assessments guides implementation planning with administration and key staff.

Training and Resources

  • Key school staff delivering the MHSB curriculum to students will engage in five hours of advanced training through live instruction, covering the foundations of the cognitive-behavioral model for understanding students’ social emotional well-being and delivery of curriculum.
  • For all other school staff, a 1.5 hour basic training is offered to provide a general overview of the MHSB curriculum to help students generalize the use of skills throughout the academic day.
  • All trainees are provided access to our virtual training platform where they can find all the resources needed for successful implementation of the MHSB curriculum.

Consultation

  • School staff delivering the MHSB curriculum will participate in up to 3 hours of virtual group consultation and coaching with an expert clinician, who will provide ongoing support on curriculum delivery throughout implementation.

Assessment

  • To ensure the highest quality of training and delivery of mental health services for students, our staff collects data including information on trainees’ skill knowledge, trainees’ feedback about the training, and student data before and after delivery of the curriculum to assess changes in students’ coping skills use.

Students shared that they were able to take tools from the curriculum and start using them right away. There is a big enough variety of skills that every student in our 7th grade group found something that resonated with them and they wanted to keep using on their own.

Britta Centoni

Whole Child Program Coordinator