School Mental Health Program (SMHP)
Equip Every Adult in the Building to Recognize and Respond to Mental Health Needs.
REACH School Mental Health training gives teachers, counselors, psychologists, administrators, and other school support staff the scientifically proven tools to identify struggling students early and intervene before a challenge becomes a crisis.
WHO IT’S FOR
Designed for the School Staff Who See Children Every Day
SMHP is built for teachers, school psychologists, counselors, and administrators — the adults who are often the first to notice when a child is struggling. SMHP is organized through school systems and districts committed to equipping their staff with practical, evidence-based mental health skills for the classroom and beyond.
Schools are often where mental health challenges first become visible — and school staff are frequently the first adults in a position to act.
This training gives educators and school staff the evidence-based tools to identify students at risk, manage behavioral challenges, and support the mental health needs of the children in their care.
Training is customized for the unique needs of a school and covers any combination of three core areas:
1 Classroom management
Practical strategies to reduce behavioral problems and improve learning environments.
2Early Identification
Proven methods for spotting children at risk for behavioral and emotional difficulties before problems escalate.
3 Effective intervention
Cognitive behavioral strategies for use by school support staff with students presenting with anxiety, depression, disruptive behaviors, and trauma.
Schedule a Training
REACH offers customized school mental health training
for groups of 15 or more educators and school staff.
Visit our Group Training page to learn more about scheduling a training
for your school or district.
Schools Trained. Students Better Supported.
Hear from the educators, counselors, and school leaders who have brought REACH School Mental Health training to their buildings and seen the difference it makes for students.
“Some of the most valuable things in this course are the interventions provided and the discussions on how to implement each intervention. The REACH trainers also take the time to get to know the participants and the information is presented in an interactive way.”
— Behavior Specialist
Brunswick County Schools, NC
“I really appreciated that the presenters have had experience working in the school setting. It was really helpful to hear the presenters’ real life examples of students that they’ve worked with, and makes me feel more confident in the ability to use these strategies in my own work in schools.”
– School Social Worker
Pender County Schools, NC
“The guidance and education I have obtained on mental health issues during this course has truly empowered me. The Mental Health Toolkit will be a valuable resource and awesome to review it with the knowledgeable staff and other school nurses.”
– School Nurse
Virginia
School Mental Health Training Questions Answered
Everything school staff, administrators, and district leaders need to know about REACH’s School Mental Health Program.
The REACH School Mental Health Program (SMHP) is a science-backed training designed to equip school staff — teachers, counselors, psychologists, and administrators — with the tools to identify at-risk students early, manage behavioral challenges effectively, and connect students to evidence-based support. It is delivered to groups of 15 or more and can be organized by school systems and districts.
SMHP is built for any school staff member who works with children — including classroom teachers, school psychologists, counselors, and building administrators. The program is layered: some content applies to all school staff, while deeper clinical content is tailored for psychologists and counselors working directly with students.
SMHP covers three core areas: classroom management strategies that reduce behavioral problems and improve learning environments; proven tools for identifying children at risk for behavioral and emotional problems; and evidence-based therapy programs for school psychologists and counselors supporting students with anxiety, depression, disruptive behaviors, and trauma.
The Action Signs Toolkit is a unique REACH resource that helps teachers and school staff recognize warning signs in students who may be at risk for mental health challenges. It is practical, easy to use, and designed specifically for non-clinical school staff. The toolkit is available as a free download, with a license to use it in your school.
SMHP is delivered as a customized group training for schools and districts with 10 or more participants. REACH works with your institution to schedule and deliver the program in a format that fits your staff and calendar. Contact our Group Training team to discuss delivery options — including on-site and virtual formats.
SMHP is grounded in the same rigorous, evidence-based science that underlies REACH’s clinical training for healthcare clinicians — adapted specifically for the school environment. It equips both non-clinical staff and licensed mental health professionals in the same building, creating a shared language and a more coordinated, effective response to student mental health needs.
SMHP participants receive mental health screening tools designed for school settings, the Action Signs Toolkit, and supporting materials for both classroom application and clinical use. School psychologists and counselors also receive evidence-based therapy frameworks for use with students directly.
Visit REACH’s Group Training page to learn more about scheduling an SMHP for your school or district. SMHP is available for groups of 15 or more. Our team will work with you to identify the right training configuration, timeline, and delivery format for your institution.
Yes. Join the SMHP waitlist to be notified when new training opportunities become available. You can sign up directly on this page. If you’re looking to organize a group training for your school or district, contact our Group Training team directly to get started.
Still Have Questions?
Our team is ready to help — whether you’re a teacher, a counselor, or
a district leader looking to bring REACH training to your school.
Additional Resources
Download the Action Signs Toolkit — free, with a school use license.
Helping African-American children with mental health issues
Last week I saw two children, both African American, who were having suicidal thoughts. In neither case did the child or the parents come in asking for mental health support. One, a 13-year-old girl I’ll call Simone, wrote on her PHQ-9 depression screener that she had attempted suicide. In our interview, she revealed that she had had sex with a man she met online and that she had been cutting herself. Yet the reason she and her parents came in was an ADHD medication check! Pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) need to realize that African-American families may not seek help for mental health issues. The reasons for the lack of disclosure are rooted in the stigma around mental health in the African-American community. The stigma, in turn, is rooted in the trauma associated with being Black in America.
New treatments for ADHD
Newer treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pediatric patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) include two medications that address some of the common issues families have with standard stimulant treatments. Another development is use of devices to manage ADHD symptoms.
Helping families deal with holiday stress
“In some ways the holidays this year will be harder than last year for many people,” said Deborah Buccino, MD, pediatrician and REACH board member. “Earlier, we had pretty clear-cut rules about what you could and could not do safely. This year, we have a lot more gray areas.”
8 Tips for Working with Mental Health Therapists
Many patients who have mental health conditions need talk therapy in addition to the treatment you provide as the pediatric primary care provider (PCP). If you practice in an area where therapists are available, we hope you have developed referral relationships, as you learned in your REACH training. You may also see patients who are already working with a therapist. In either case, the communication between you and the therapist makes a huge difference in the quality of care the two of you provide. To learn how PCPs and therapists can collaborate to improve the mental health of children and adolescents, we talked with clinical psychologist Kevin Stark, PhD, a founder of The REACH Institute’s CATIE program, and pediatrician Hilary Bowers, MD, director of behavioral and mental health services at Children’s Primary Care Medical Group, a large pediatric practice in San Diego and Riverside counties in California.
Getting through to difficult patients and families
It’s 10:30 Monday morning, and you’re 45 minutes behind. Earlier, you had to confront a receptionist about coming in late again. You have to get out today by 4:30 so you can get to your daughter’s softball game. Beating under all this stress is worry about your mom, who has been diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer.
Cross-titrating psychiatric medications
If you struggle with titrating psychiatric medications for your pediatric patients, you are not alone. Even for some alumni of the REACH program Patient-Centered Mental Health in Pediatric Primary Care, lack of comfort with psychiatric medications can hamper effective treatment. What does it take to dose and cross-titrate effectively? We asked two REACH faculty members: Peter S. Jensen, MD, REACH founder, and Amy Kryder, MD, education lead of the statewide REACH program in Virginia.
7 ways to support LGBTQIA+ youth
In a recent national survey, 46% of young LGBTQIA+ respondents said that they wanted counseling for psychological or emotional health issues and couldn’t get it. As a pediatric primary care provider (PCP), you may be well aware of the challenges your LBGTQIA+ patients face. To help you help them, we gathered suggestions from two experts, both of whom were panelists in our May webinar on supporting LGBTQIA+ youth: • Andersen Guske, nonbinary 22-year-old LGBTQIA+ advocate • Amy Dryer, MD, pediatrician and REACH faculty member Together, they offered 7 suggestions.
Helping children who have lost a parent
More than 40,000 children have lost a parent due to COVID-19. Black children, who constitute 14% of children in the US, are 20% of those who have lost a parent. Chances are good, then, that some of your patients have been through one of the most significant losses they will experience in their whole lives. The support they receive now to grieve in a healthy way can make the difference between their ability to thrive and their descent into adverse outcomes ranging from school failure to death by suicide.
Helping AAPI patients cope with racism
Discrimination and hate crimes against people of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) descent have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be wondering how you can help your AAPI patients cope with feelings that arise from experiences of racism.
Back to school for special populations
Although some schools have been open in person for months, some larger districts are just beginning to welcome students back on campus. Children, families, educators, and medical professionals have mixed feelings. To help you support different patient populations as they return to school, we talked to Jennifer Walton, MD, MPH, a co-author of a call for an “URGENT Coordinated Effort to Re-Open Schools” by the National Medical Association (NMA). Dr. Walton is chair of the NMA’s Pediatric Section, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at The Ohio State University, and a developmental behavioral pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
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