11/21/2025
As the semester moves forward and the holiday season approaches, many educators notice an increase in emotional strain. There is more conflict between students, more tears, more “I’m done” moments. In DBT STEPS-E and DBT STEPS-A, we start from a simple but powerful principle: emotions show up in the body before they show up in behavior.
For elementary students using DBT STEPS-E, many are still in the preoperational and concrete operational stages. They make meaning through what they can see, feel, and do. That’s why we ground emotional awareness in very concrete questions:
“Is your body moving fast or slow?”
“Is your chest tight or relaxed?”
“Do your hands feel like fists or noodles?”
We’re helping them connect body sensations to basic emotion words like sad, mad, worried, and excited. Educators don't have to seek deep insight; the goal is a reliable bridge between sensation and language.
By middle and high school, with DBT STEPS-A, students are moving into formal operational thinking. They’re more able to reflect:
“I feel tight in my chest when I’m anxious about performance.”
“My jaw clenches when I’m angry but feel like I can’t say anything.”
They can link body cues to context, history, and meaning, and they can hold more than one emotion at a time.
Across both curricula, the sequence is the same:
notice the body → name the feeling → decide what skill to use.
When students understand that pattern, emotional regulation becomes something they can do, not just something adults ask them for.
🔗 Find emotion identification tools and student-friendly visuals in our Resource Center and register for 2026 open enrollment and private trainings at dbtinschools.com → link in bio.
