Integrating Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) into the School Setting: Practical Tools for Student Success with Ashwini Addala, LMFT

This interactive workshop will explore how Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) principles and strategies can be adapted to fit within the school environment to support students’ emotional regulation, resilience, and problem-solving skills. With the growing need for practical, evidence-based approaches to help children and adolescents build essential life skills, DBT offers a powerful framework for equipping students with tools they can use both inside and outside the classroom.

Participants will learn how to integrate DBT-informed practices into existing school curricula and counseling frameworks in a way that is developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive, and feasible within the school day. Drawing on experience from both clinical and educational settings, Ashwini Addala LMFT, will share practical tools, language, and activities that can be implemented by school psychologists to help students build coping skills, navigate interpersonal challenges, and foster a growth mindset.

Topics will include:

• Translating DBT’s core skills—Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness—into age-appropriate classroom activities.
• Adapting clinical DBT tools for one-on-one interventions
• Creating a DBT-informed school culture that promotes emotional safety and skill-building.

By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with ready-to-use strategies and resources to help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally—while developing life skills that will serve them well into adulthood.

This workshop will be recorded.

Ashwini Addala is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience supporting children, adolescents, and families in both educational and clinical settings. Over the course of her career, she has worked at various schools across Santa Clara County, collaborating closely with teachers, parents, and multidisciplinary teams to promote student well-being, social–emotional growth, and academic success.

In addition to her school-based work, Ashwini has specialized experience in hospital settings, where she provided evidence-based care utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to support individuals navigating intense emotional challenges, self-harm behaviors, and other high-acuity needs. This work has strengthened her expertise in helping youth develop resilience, emotional regulation skills, and healthy coping strategies.

As an LMFT, Ashwini is passionate about fostering inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive support systems that empower students to thrive both inside and outside the classroom. Her mission is to bridge the gap between mental health and education, ensuring that every student has access to compassionate, effective care that addresses their unique strengths and challenges.

This course meets the qualifications for 3 hours of continuing education credit for LEPs, LMFTs, LPCCs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. This course also qualifies for 3 hours of continuing professional development for Nationally Certified School Psychologists, under provider number 1025. CASP maintains responsibility for the program and its content.

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Membership fees:

• Regular/Associate: $30
• Retired/Student: $20

For disability assistance, please contact events@sccasp.org.