Addressing Trauma and Mental Health in the Inclusive Classroom: An SEL Program Based on DBT Skills and Mental Health Literacy

The inclusion of students with mental health challenges requires trauma informed care in order for students to successfully manage the stress of the academic environment and the expectations of social interactions (Blitz, Anderson, Saastamoinen, 2016). There are many students with mental health challenges in public schools in Canada not getting the support they need, as only 20% of students requiring mental health services are currently receiving support (Statistics Canada, 2016). Two school districts in two large Canadian cities participated in a pilot study to investigate the outcomes of a universally designed mental health program based on Mental Health Literacy (Kutcher, Wei, & Coniglio, 2016) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills modules (Miller, Rathus, & Linehan, 2006). Data was collected three times in the year from 40 teachers and 995 students in grades 3-12 related to implementation and fidelity, and student self-reported sense of belonging, resiliency, self-concept and classroom climate. Data included surveys, artifacts, and interviews. Analyses using R for HLM indicated large effect sizes for all four variables, and themes related to resiliency, and the importance of school based social support networks. Results will be discussed in terms of implications for implementation and future research.