THE DIBBLE INSTITUTE - GuideStar Profile (2023)

People experiencing trauma and toxic stress often have difficulty regulating their emotional responses when facing challenges in school, life, and relationships. As participants learn the skills and strategies in Mind Matters, they can begin to say, “I am not a victim of what happened to me.”

Mind Matters’ 12 one-hour lessons or 21 30-minute sessions, teach students ages 12 and up to respond to negative experiences with innovative methods based on current research and neuroscience. These skills give individuals a way to take charge of their emotions and improve their states of mind. Students learn to address their physical, relational, and mental health needs.

Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Adults

Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0, based on the 5-year federal evaluation study at Auburn University, is a research-based curriculum that uses hands-on activities to build skills and knowledge necessary for making wise relationship choices.

Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0 covers topics such as maturity, identifying values, peer pressure, attractions and infatuation, building blocks for positive relationships, assessing relationship health, a low-risk relationship strategy, principles of smart relationships, the nature of true intimacy, a realistic concept of love, and breaking up. Also includes date violence prevention and assertiveness skills, communication/conflict skills, identity and future orientation, and a unique approach to pregnancy prevention that educates about the needs of children.

An engaging student workbook provides teens with an opportunity to review, to reflect on, and to apply what they have learned to their own lives. Another feature is the “Parent/Guardian-Teen Connection” – activities which convey core content to parents or guardians and serve as catalysts for critical teen-parent conversations.

Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0 - SRA is also available.

Population(s) Served

Adolescents

LGBTQ people

Unplanned pregnancy, single parenting, and troubled relationships are a serious threat to the wellbeing and futures of many young adults, as well as to their children.

Love Notes 3.0 was created for this vulnerable, high-risk audience. In 13 lessons they discover, often for the first time, how to make wise choices about partners, sex, relationships, pregnancy, and more.

Love Notes takes an innovative approach to these topics by integrating relationship skills with pregnancy prevention and practical strategies for motivating change:

A realistic context for learning that incorporates language, values and scenarios that is relevant to this audience.
An appeal to aspirations that helps youth to cultivate a personal vision for love, intimacy, and success.
New motivations for behavioral change, such as exploring, from a child’s perspective, the impact of unplanned pregnancy and unstable relationships.
Empowerment to achieve healthy relationships through both knowledge and practical skills.

Love Notes SRA/SRR is also available.

Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Understanding money is important for all teens. Even basic financial competence can improve their relationships as well as help them attain goals for lifestyle, education, career and family.

In real life, it is often hidden attitudes that dictate how people actually spend, save and think about money, regardless of financial skills or economic status. Money Habitudes focuses on exploring this "human side of money."

In 5 lively lessons, Money Habitudes® explores how people behave around money, and why this matters to teens – especially in their own lives. For example:

How money works and affects our lives.
Different approaches to handling money – spontaneous, practical, carefree, security, generous, and more.
The symbolism of money – as a sign of power, status, love, safety, independence, spontaneity, loyalty and more.
The influence of family, media, culture, and life events on habits and attitudes.
The advantages and challenges of different approaches to money.
A key goal is helping teens to understand their individual financial patterns. The Money Habitudes for Teens card game, integrated into the lessons, offers a fun, engaging way to uncover this information. The game also helps build awareness of their values, and reveals new choices in many areas of their lives.

Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Money Habitudes 2® is a quick program introducing vulnerable youth to the non-technical, human side of money – a critical element of successful money management.

Lessons explore how hidden attitudes affect the ways people -especially those with few financial resources – actually behave around money. Topics include:

Why money management is important in our lives.
Different approaches to handling money –spontaneous, practical, carefree, security, generous, and more.
The symbolism of money– as a sign of power, status, love, safety, independence, loyalty and more.
The influence of family, media, culture, and life events.
The advantages and challenges of different approaches to money.
The interplay between money and relationships.
A key goal is helping young people identify their personal financial patterns – and why these matter.

Money Habitudes 2® is written specifically for at-risk or low resource youth in community programs, including pregnancy prevention, teen parenting, and workforce development. The scenarios are realistic, reflecting the students’ limited resources and lack of financial know-how.

Population(s) Served

At-risk youth

Economically disadvantaged people