Adolescence is a time of opportunity.
Rapid brain development during adolescence makes it an ideal time to learn new skills and strategies for dealing with stress, improving communication skills, building a positive sense of self, and resolving conflicts.
About the Be CALM Program
The Be CALM Program focuses on early adolescence, during which there are both opportunities for rapid skill-building and critical developmental risks. The Be CALM Training Model and 16-lesson Be CALM student curriculum equips students with resilience-building skills and strategies for responding to and growing through developmental challenges common to youth, such as increased emotional reactivity, high stress levels, greater academic demands, changes in social systems and relationships, and physiological changes.
Be CALM strengthens self-regulation. Self-regulation is the act of managing thoughts and feelings so that one can behave in ways that support one's values and relationships.
Self-regulation is foundational to lifelong physical and mental health. Research shows that it buffers the effects of stress and predicts achievement more strongly than IQ.
Program Goals and Key Phrases
C
is for
COOL
Press the Pause
on whatever you are doing or thinking and take 3 deep breaths.
Dealing with thoughts and emotions in healthy ways, especially when facing stress and conflict.
A
is for
Attentive
Tune In
to the present moment
Noticing what is happening in your mind and body as well as in your environment.
L
is for
LOGICAL
Be Curious
about what is happening
Being curious about your own and others' perspectives.
M
is for
MATURE
Be Kind
to yourself and others
Working out conflicts with others to support healthy relationships.
The Be CALM Approach
The Be CALM team identified two significant opportunity gaps in reviewing the literature on self-regulation interventions for early adolescents: Gap 1 - involving adults, like educators, in supporting adolescents' self-regulation skills development; and Gap 2 - greater emphasis on supporting adolescents' emotion regulation as a significant component of self-regulation. The Be CALM Program targets the first opportunity gap with the guidance of our team's Applied Contextual Model for Promoting Self-Regulation, which emphasizes the importance of interactions with caring adults for promoting youth’s developmental skills and capacities, a process we describe as co-regulation. We followed the evidence to identify an intervention that targets the second opportunity gap. Research shows that focusing on emotion regulation has the strongest positive effects on adolescent emotional wellbeing, and the evidence points to mindfulness as a promising practice for strengthening emotion regulation.
Mindfulness is Pressing the Pause, on purpose, and Tuning In to the present moment with a Curious and Kind attitude.
"I was a tough nut to crack with mindfulness, but it was a success. Now I start everyday with mindfulness."
​
- Middle School Counselor Participant
The Be CALM Student Curriculum
4
Modules
16
Lessons
12
Instructional
Hours
2 Levels (6th-7th & 8th-9th)
The Be CALM curriculum integrates mindfulness + learning for optimal emotional and behavioral processes. Mindfulness increases students' awareness of what is happening inside the mind and body as well as in their environment, so they can pause and think before responding to stressful or overwhelming stimuli or emotions. SEL instruction gives them skills and strategies they can use to make wise choices about how to respond in real-life situations.