Through a series of brief, easy-to-follow sessions, complete with skills-building activities, the evidence-based COPE Programs convey that there is hope for change, and that both depression and anxiety are treatable.

COPE recognizes that we can’t control trigger events, but we can control how we think about them and our our responses to them. The COPE Programs teach children, teens, young adults and adults how to recognize and stop automatic negative or unhelpful thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts. The result is feeling emotionally better and behaving in healthier ways.

Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A). Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills have been demonstrated to be effective in helping adolescents manage difficult emotional situations, cope with stress, and make better decisions. From leading experts in DBT and school-based interventions, this unique manual offers the first nonclinical application of DBT skills. The book presents an innovative social-emotional learning curriculum designed to be taught by general education teachers or other school personnel in grades 6-12. Explicit instructions for teaching the skills—mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness—are provided in 30 lesson plans, complete with numerous reproducibles: 99 handouts, a diary card, and three student tests.

Additional outcomes:

Decreased anxiety

EduGuide provides lesson-based and organizational approaches to SEL. It includes programming for grades 4-12 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at grades 5-7. Additionally, the lesson-based portion of EduGuide is facilitated largely online with guidance for bringings topics from lessons into classroom discussion. Translated materials are available in Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Nepali, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese.

EL Education provides lesson-based and organizational approaches to SEL. It includes programming for grades K-8 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at grades 6-8. Spanish translations for some materials are available.

Level II: Depression Awareness provides an introduction to depression for grade 5-9 students with a strong focus on help-seeking and good mental health. The full program has four lessons. The fourth lesson is a skills check as the program meets National Health Education Standards. A condensed one-day lesson is also available.

Level III: Depression Education & Suicide Awareness provides a deeper discussion about depression and suicide for grade 8-12 students along with a focus on help-seeking and good mental health. The full program has four lessons. The fourth lesson is a skills check as the program meets National Health Education Standards. A condensed one-day lesson is also available.

Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education that Works, offered by Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, provides a lesson-based approach to SEL with academic integration for health/sex education. It includes programming for grades 6-8 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at grades 6-8. Translated materials for Get Real are available in Spanish.

GiveThx provides a lesson-based approach to SEL. It includes programming for grades 3-12 and demonstrated evidence of effectiveness at grades 9-12.

Hallway Heroes, offered by Chicken Soup for the Soul, provides a lesson-based approach to SEL with academic integration for english/language arts. Hallway Heroes is designed to be used either in the classroom or in a counselor setting. It has also been used effectively in after-school and summer school. The stories on which each lesson is based are also designed to be sent home with students so that their parents/guardians can participate. The student journals encourage open-ended writing and provide opportunities for project based learning in the classroom and community.

Heartfulness Program for Schools, offered by the Heartfulness Institute, provides a lesson-based approach to SEL. It includes programming for grades K-12 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at grades 7 and 8. Translated materials for Heartfulness Program for Schools are available in Spanish, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.