Bring Be REAL to Your Campus

Be REAL (REsilient Attitudes and Living) is a campus community program that promotes the well-being and resilience of youth, college students, and staff.  Our goal is to create a program that allows campuses to scale up programs to bolster student mental health and well-being. For this reason, Be REAL is designed to be delivered by non-clinicians (though clinicians are welcome too!) who are already working within their campus communities. 

The program blends mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral skills, as research has shown that programs combining these two areas are more supportive to student well-being than either one alone.  Research on Be REAL has found that participating in the program can significantly improve a range of student well-being and mental health indicators. Learn more about Be REAL in the 3-minute video below.

Be REAL has been developed and evaluated by the University of Washington (UW) Center for Child & Family Well-Being (CCFW) and, in partnership with the UW Resilience Lab, expanded to nearly 2,000 staff and students on all three UW campuses.  In 2022 Be REAL Facilitation Training expanded nationally, and to date individuals and teams from 24 campuses across the United States have learned skills to deliver Be REAL to students and staff in their campus communities. The program has been offered in several student settings such as in residential halls, as a course for credit, as part of a seminar for underrepresented students, first year programming and within student affinity groups. This training brings together professionals working with students in colleges and universities from across the country. 

Be REAL Facilitation Training utilizes a task-sharing approach, which equips staff and instructors already working with students to deliver tools to support resilience and well-being.  Staff who complete training work in a range of roles engaging with students, including advisors, counselors, instructors, program managers, residential life directors, athletic department directors, and more.  Ideally, staff enrolling in this training will be permitted to participate and offer the program as part of their standard work hours. 

Be REAL is an outstanding program for campus professionals who want to support student well-being and contribute to cultivating a campus culture that centers well-being and resilience. A few reasons to bring Be REAL to your campus:

• Research has shown that participation in the program can significantly improve student well-being and mental health across a range of indicators
• The program consistently receives outstanding feedback from students and staff who report that it is supportive to their well-being and inclusive of their cultural and personal beliefs
• Staff report that the program also provides them with tools to manage the stress of working in educational settings
• Staff who participated in Be REAL Facilitation Training report feeling more competent in supporting students with the skills they gained from the program
• The experiential training provides staff with everything needed to immediately launch a group, including a fully scripted manual and professionally developed resources to support a variety of student learning needs.   

This training is for staff working at college campuses other than the University of Washington. If you are a UW staff member and wish to participate in the UW campus training, please email Megan Kennedy at meganken@uw.edu.  

The three-part training sequence accounts for 25 hours of professional training.  Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available.* 

REAL Pro (REsilient Attitudes & Living for Professionals) – 10 hours

Our research and experience show that Be REAL is best delivered by staff who have participated in the same program given to students as part of their own personal and professional development.  Not only does this familiarize professionals with the content and practices they will be delivering, but it supports adopting personal mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral skill building that can in return be shared with students.  Staff report that the time and space to focus on their own well-being in a community space enhances their group facilitation and 1-1 work with students and colleagues.   

Weekly REAL Pro sessions include: 

• Guided contemplative practices
• Interactive discussions 
• In-the-moment coping tools 
• Reflective group or writing activities 
• Cognitive behavioral skill building 
• Gentle yoga sequences (in 2 sessions) 
• Intention setting 

Facilitation Training – 9 hours

After the completion of REAL Pro, professionals engage in weekly Facilitation Training over three weeks.

Facilitation Training sessions include:

• Be REAL Pedagogy and foundational concepts 
• How to facilitate key mindfulness practices 
• How to facilitate key concepts from cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapy 
• Facilitating group inquiry and discussions 
• Considerations for cultivating inclusive environments for students   
• Research and evaluation 
• Panel discussion and Q&A with experienced facilitators 
• Integration of learning and discussing how to embed Be REAL into existing programs on your campus 

Independent Practice & Study – 6 hours

Applying what is learned between training sessions is a critical part of learning and reflecting on this work.   Throughout REAL Pro and the Facilitation Training, participants will be given resources to deepen practice outside weekly sessions.  This includes applying mindfulness practices, reviewing short videos, personal reflection and writing, reading the Facilitator Manual, and facilitating practices with others.  

*Please note that our CEUs are typically available for licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and social workers in Washington State.  It is always up to each trainee to ensure they check with their agency and state regulations to ensure that these training hours apply toward required CEUs. We cannot guarantee that these CEUs will be accepted in other states.

Support does not stop once training is complete.  We know staff and student well-being is an ongoing effort, and it takes a community.  As part of the training, facilitators receive full access to the Be REAL Facilitator Training Hub which includes a variety of resources to equip facilitators from start to finish.  

Access includes:   

• 200-page Facilitator Manual, which includes scripts for each session that can be used verbatim or adapted as needed for each group. 

• Professionally developed materials to supplement teaching:
  • 10 handouts (all handouts available in English and Spanish)  
  • Weekly newsletters that align with the Be REAL program  
  • 10 videos on key topics and content areas   
  • More than 20 guided audio practices (English and Spanish)  
  • Templates for recruiting and registering students 

• Community of Practice drop-in sessions which take place every other month.  These drop-ins offer staff a space to practice mindfulness together, exchange ideas, discuss a topic and share support with one another. 

• Consultation Meeting: We love to hear from trained facilitators and learn how they are embedding Be BEAL on their campuses.  We can schedule one-hour individual consultation meetings with each participant to support adaptation and implementation. 

The dates for the Fall 2025 Training will be shared by early spring.

All training components will be delivered live, online via Zoom.  Times below indicate Pacific Standard Time. 

Real Pro Immersion (7 weeks at 90 minutes each week)

More details to come

Facilitation Training (3 weeks at 3 hours each week)

More details to come

Registration Cost:

$750.00 per person. Institutions enrolling 3 or more people will receive a 15% discount for a per person rate of $650.00.  We strive to make this training accessible.  If cost is a barrier to you, please contact us at saramcd@uw.edu to discuss additional discount options.  

Registration includes:

• Participation in the 7-week REAL Pro program
• Participation in the 3-day facilitation training
• A one-hour consultation meeting with Be REAL Trainers
• Access and use of the Be REAL manual and program resources
• Access to participate in the Be REAL Community of Practice sessions

Deadline to apply:

To be determined
Payment will not be collected at the time of application.  

Troy Landrum Jr., Continuing Education Coordinator

Troy is a native of Indianapolis, IN and has lived in Seattle, WA for 10 years. Prior to joining CCFW, Troy worked at KUOW Seattle’s NPR station as a Program Producer, Workshop educator and Outreach Specialist. Before his work as a Program Producer at KUOW he has worked in Youth Development for a variety of programs such as CHOOSE 180 and The YMCA Alive and Free.  Troy graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Washington Bothell in 2021 and is a freelance journalist for the South Seattle Emerald.

Sara McDermott, Be REAL Program Manager

Sara leads CCFW’s partnerships, training, research, and program development for Be REAL.   Prior to joining CCFW, Sara spent over 8  years working as an academic advisor in various settings, including supporting high school students pursuing Running Start at the community college, a cohort program that supported first and second year pre-engineering college students from low-income, first generation and underserved backgrounds, and students studying in STEM majors.   Before her work as an academic advisor, Sara was the national coordinator of Irish Immigration Centers in the U.S. and did LGBTQI+ advocacy and program development for youth in Ireland. Sara’s work included creating an anti-homophobic bullying program, developing and delivering a self-esteem intervention, and developing a “whole-school” approach to promoting youth mental health.

Questions? Contact Sara McDermott at saramcd@uw.edu