Professional Services
DGS is Delaware’s largest provider of non-residential mental health services for children and families.
Professional Development
Our Professional Development curriculum includes 10 stand-alone training modules grounded in trauma-informed care, building effective relationships, and effective classroom and student management. In one-on-one and group settings, DGS clinicians work directly with teachers and administrators to build skills that promote social-emotional well-being, good citizenship, appreciation of diversity, and resilience among students. Our Professional Development curriculum has been implemented successfully within Delaware school systems, and modules are customizable to each school district and school. Our clinicians also work directly with teachers and administrators to design new training modules to meet the specific needs of student populations.
Current Course Offerings
The Collaborative Classroom
In this course, you’ll learn how to create a classroom environment that promotes collaboration, self-regulation, and positive discipline strategies. This course will give you specific strategies and interventions to design a classroom that meets the needs of all types of learners, and especially learners that have a history of trauma and/or adversity. Filled with practical tips and suggestions, teachers will gain new tools to address today’s classroom needs.
Understanding the Brain and its Stress Response System
Get ready to take a deep dive into the inner workings of the brain! Learn how the typically developed brain works and how brains are affected by trauma and stress. You’ll develop specific strategies for working with children’s’ brains that are “chronically stressed” or affected by trauma such as abuse, neglect, and adversity.
No-Drama Discipline
Based on the work of Dr. Daniel Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, authors of the New York Times best-selling book “No-Drama Discipline,” you’ll discover simple, but effective methods for understanding and addressing behavior challenges. Rooted in neuroscience, the strategies focus on whole-brain methods of discipline that increase insight, empathy, and improve executive functioning skills.
Self-Care for Teachers
Teachers risk for burnout has reached an all-time high. Self-care is not only a necessity, but a skill to be learned and practiced. A teacher that maintains good self-care practices will experience higher job satisfaction, increased productivity, and happier classrooms.
Crisis Prevention and Intervention, Trauma Informed Care in the Classroom, and De-Escalation Basics
- Delaware Guidance Services for Children and Youth, Inc. is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program.
- DGS is a certified provider of services through the Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood
- NBCC National Board of Certified Counselors and the ACEP Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology
Contact Nicole Thompson, LCSW
nthompson@delawareguidance.org
(302) 652-3948 ext. 1212