Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) Program
RECRUITMENT FOR OUR 2024-2025 DBT PROGRAM HAS NOW BEGUN
We are grateful for the support of the Affinity Legacy fund and this opportunity to improve the effectiveness of SBHCs in addressing the behaviorla health needs of children. If you have any questions, email goldberg.sarah@nysbhfoundation.org with "DBT Program" in the subject line.
Program Background
About the Foundation's DBT Program
The Foundation's 2024-2025 DBT-in-Schools Training and Implementation Support program will assist three SBHC sponsoring organizations in implementing a school-based adaptation of a model known as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). In our mission of strengthening NY’s school-based health centers (SBHCs), we offered this highly successful program for the first time in 2023 in an attempt to meet the COVID-related surge of behavioral health needs among our underserved school children. Now, thanks to the Affinity Legacy Fund, we are thrilled to repeat this opportunity for Sponsor Organizations who were not previous participants.
The 2024-2025 one-year program offered by the NY SBH Foundation will make available national experts from DBT in Schools. The program will be intensive and will provide training, coaching support, and resources for three SBHC sponsoring organizations operating SBHCs in the Affinity service area (NYC and Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Rockland, and Westchester Counties).
We are grateful for the support of the Affinity Legacy grant program and this opportunity to improve the effectiveness of SBHCs in addressing the behavioral health needs of their children. Based on our initial experience, we hope to be able to spread the program more widely among SBHCs in the future.
DBT Benefits & Background
Comprehensive DBT has been developed, widely-tested, and is poised to be the strategy of choice in addressing this rising tide of behavioral health demand due to its flexibility, ease of implementation, and evidence-based effectiveness. The school-based adaptations and strategies of DBT have the potential to achieve scale by its train- the-trainer approach and applicability at the group, individual, or classroom levels. Key to the program is training and support of teachers and behavioral health specialists in giving children tools to:
Regulate their emotions
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Cope with stress
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Increase awareness of the impact of actions on themselves and others.
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Make decisions
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Communicate effectively
DBT Informed Counseling Strategies plus DBT STEPS-A SELC Implementation 4 Day Training (FOR CLINICIANS ONLY)
SBHC clinicians will be trained to use DBT strategies in individual counseling sessions and teach DBT STEPS-A classes/small groups for students with emotional difficulties. The focus will be on commitment strategies, the application of DBT principles in individual counseling sessions, the use of behavioral chain analysis, and the reinforcement of DBT skills use via time-limited coaching. The goals of this model are to minimize student’s time out of class, apply skills, and limit crisis focused responding from staff. The Affinity grant will provide virtual support for school initiation meetings, training in the model, and ongoing support and consultation to ensure fidelity and successful implementation.
Funding: Grant funding will cover all trainings, supervision, materials, and administration costs. The grant will provide funding to help cover either one part-time Clinician for your organization, unbillable services such as co-facilitating a class/group, or a combination of the two.
Program Components include:
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4 full day trainings in DBT tools and techniques in February 2025 with pending eligibility for Continuing Education hours, for those who complete the 4 day training.
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Monthly coaching thereafter by experts in the field
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4 “Booster” one-hour training sessions for skills refreshment
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Implementation support from our Subject Matter Expert
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Scheduled Kick-off, Check-ins, and Peer Sharing meetings to be determined.
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Flexible funding for each organization to be used during the grant period for supplies, materials or other items, or salary support for behavioral health clinician(s) providing DBT to your SBHC students or doing program coordination.
Our Team
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Scott Bloom
Subject Matter Expert, LCSW
Director Of Special Projects & Initiatives, New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center (NYPCC)
Scott Bloom, LCSW, will be advising the DBT program and providing training and technical assistance as our subject matter expert. Our NYC members know Scott as the founding Director of School Mental Health Services for the New York City Department of Education where he served for 15 years, facilitating partnerships with non-profit organizations and implementing mental health initiatives in over 1,800 city schools.
Mr. Bloom has spent his 31-year career at the intersection of mental health, communities, and schools working to improve access to social-emotional services and resources by integrating these programs, creating opportunities for children and youth to overcome emotional and behavioral barriers to academic achievement.
SARAH GOLDBERG
DBT Program Director
Sarah C. Goldberg’s 15+ years of public health experience has focused on building collaboration opportunities and bringing like-minded people and projects together. Sarah comes with a strong knowledge of SBHCs, having previously worked for the NYC Health Department’s Office of School Health School-based Health Center Reproductive Health Project as well as at a Bronx public school running and supporting health education and community programming. Most recently, she directed a housing support program via NYC Health + Hospitals and served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner in the NYC Health Department’s Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention Program where she oversaw data and reporting as well as both internal and external communications.
Dr. Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza
Certified DBT Clinician, DBT in Schools, LLC
Dr. Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza is a licensed psychologist, certified DBT therapist, & co-author of the DBT Skills in Schools: Skills Training and Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) social emotional learning curriculum for students. She received her doctoral degree in 2004 and completed her predoctoral internship at Montefiore and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (BRTC) at the University of Washington.
While at the BRTC, she was the Clinical Director and a research therapist, which provided both individual DBT and DBT group skills training. Dr. Dexter-Mazza is a licensed psychologist and owner of both Mazza Consulting & Psychological Services, LLC and DBT in Schools, LLC. She provides training and consultation to mental healthproviders and schools around the world.
