Core Competency Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training Series (CC-CBT)

Upcoming Cohorts:

There are no upcoming cohorts of this training planned for the 2026-2027 training year. Please check back again later.

Eligibility Requirements:

Be licensed to provide therapy services (LCP, LPC, LCSW, School Psychology, and others as applicable) or be under supervision by a licensed clinical supervisor to provide these services.
Have at least 3 clients between the ages of 12 - 17 years actively undergoing mental health therapy treatment on their caseload and must be able to maintain this minimum for 6-8 months post training when the required consultation calls conclude.
Have at least one (1) resident of Fairfax County/City on your caseload OR work for an organization that is located in Fairfax County/City.
Possess a masters degree (or equivalent) by the date of application.
Be available to attend all four core training days without interruption and commit to arriving on-time and staying for each full day;
Complete brief surveys used to evaluate the training program(s).
Commit to active and enthusiastic participation in all required consultation calls (15 calls total).
Applicant must be willing to pay for daily parking at GMU ($19.50 per day).

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Unless otherwise stated in a training program's official application announcement, all of the above criteria apply. There are programs with additional requirements and programs with exceptions to these criteria; additions and exceptions are listed within training announcements and should not be assumed applicable across programs.

Email CEBBH@gmu.edu for further information.

Training Features

Target Audience: Licensed behavioral health clinicians or those under supervision for clinical licensure providing services to adolescents
Target Treatment Population: Adolescents (ages 12–17) with co‑occurring mental and behavioral health conditions, including suicidality, non‑suicidal self‑injury, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior, and substance use
- When used in concert with Add-On Workshop content, CC-CBT may also be used to address eating‑disordered behavior and trauma.
Clinical Focus: Core Competency Cognitive‑Behavioral Therapy (CC‑CBT) for adolescents with complex, co‑occurring presentations
Training Structure:
- Four 8‑hour core training days (required)
- Three optional Add‑On Workshop days
Post‑Training Consultation: Six - eight months of bi‑weekly closed group consultation calls
Delivery Format: In‑person
Training Scope:
- Core training days cover treatment of adolescent suicidality, non‑suicidal self‑injury, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior, and substance use
- Add‑On Workshops address eating‑disorder behavior (including a 3-hr pre‑recorded webinar) and trauma.

Full Description

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most widely used and efficacious treatments for youth depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior, substance use, trauma, and high-risk behaviors. The Core Competency Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CC-CBT) protocol integrates cognitive and behavioral techniques to address adolescent (ages 12-17) suicidal ideation/behavior, substance abuse, and other mental health conditions (depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior). More recently, modules to address trauma and eating disorders were added. It also employs motivational enhancement to improve motivation for change and treatment engagement as well as some dialectical behavior therapy techniques to address severe emotion dysregulation and high-risk behavior. The CC-CBT is manualized and modular with a menu of sessions for the clinician to choose from which allows for tailoring of the protocol to each adolescent and his/her family. The CC-CBT incorporates “core” adolescent skill modules to address skill deficits common to substance abuse, suicidality, and other mental health problems (depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior). It also includes “supplemental” skill modules that are used, as needed, to address emergent crises (e.g., suicide risk assessment & safety planning, chain analysis). Acknowledging that adolescents exist within multiple systems (family, peer, school), and that problems within these systems often prevent optimal treatment gains, CC-CBT contains modules for cognitive-behavioral individual therapy session, cognitive-behavioral family therapy sessions, and behavioral parent training sessions. Coordination of services across providers (e.g., psychiatrists, pediatricians) and settings (e.g., schools) is also conducted.

CC-CBT is ideal for use in community settings with youth who present with co-occurring conditions. It is a transdiagnostic protocol, i.e., it is designed to accommodate, rather than exclude, adolescents with comorbid psychiatric disorders. CC-CBT is also consistent with a “common elements approach” to care. Many evidence-based interventions contain the same components, or elements. By learning these elements and how to combine them to address different symptom profiles, clinicians can treat a range of problems and severity levels, and can tailor the treatment according to each individual client’s needs and resources.

The CC-CBT protocol is based on a treatment developed and tested for adolescents with co-occurring substance abuse and suicidality referred to as Integrated Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT). This I-CBT protocol, when delivered to youth with co-occurring substance use disorders and suicidality, showed preliminary efficacy in reducing the incidence of suicide attempts, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, heavy drinking, and marijuana use, relative to an enhanced treatment as usual (E-TAU) condition. Supplemental analyses also suggested moderate to large effects on rates of mood, anxiety, disruptive-behavior, and substance use disorders. I-CBT was delivered by therapists in a medical school setting. In a slightly modified version of I-CBT, youth who received this treatment, with specific demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline, demonstrated greater improvement in severity of suicidal ideation over 12 months relative to youth in E-TAU. This includes youth who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino/a/x and those with social anxiety disorder. It also includes youth with greater (versus less): internalizing problems, aggression (verbal, physical, pre-meditated), and alcohol use. There was also a trend for youth who identified as Black/African American to report better outcomes in severity of suicidal ideation.

I-CBT is rated as a treatment with evidence for reductions in suicide attempts in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA; 2020) publication, Treatment for Suicidal Ideation, Self-harm, and Suicide Attempts Among Youth and a recent review of the scientific literature. It has also been featured in a recent book entitled Evidence-Based Treatment Approaches for Suicidal Adolescents: Translating Science into Practice. The I-CBT model, which includes the integration of individual and family-based CBT, with motivational enhancement, has also been deemed a well-established treatment model for adolescent substance abuse in a recent literature review and rated as a treatment with evidence for reductions in substance abuse and co-occurring conditions in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA; 2021) publication, Treatment Considerations for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Emotional Disturbances and Serious Mental Illnesses.

CC-CBT is a modified version of I-CBT. Adaptations were made to the training and consultation protocol as well as the treatment manual to improve disseminability in community settings. Core skills were retained in the adaptation process. The modifications were made in collaboration with numerous community partners. Additionally, all parent handouts and worksheets have been translated into Spanish and will also be translated into Arabic and Korean. Clinicians trained in CC-CBT report statistically significant increases in knowledge and self-efficacy in the use of CC-CBT skills from pre- to post-training. Clinicians also report statistically significant increases in use of CC-CBT skills with clients at 3-month follow-up as well as good fidelity to the treatment modules. More recent additions to CC-CBT include modules to address disordered eating behavior and trauma. Further, materials have been added which offer guidance in how to deliver CC-CBT in a trauma-informed manner, which is also covered in the core training.

Upcoming Cohorts:

There are no upcoming cohorts of this training planned for the 2026-2027 training year. Please check back again later.

Eligibility Requirements:

Be licensed to provide therapy services (LCP, LPC, LCSW, School Psychology, and others as applicable) or be under supervision by a licensed clinical supervisor to provide these services.
Have at least 3 clients between the ages of 12 - 17 years actively undergoing mental health therapy treatment on their caseload and must be able to maintain this minimum for 6-8 months post training when the required consultation calls conclude.
Have at least one (1) resident of Fairfax County/City on your caseload OR work for an organization that is located in Fairfax County/City.
Possess a masters degree (or equivalent) by the date of application.
Be available to attend all four core training days without interruption and commit to arriving on-time and staying for each full day;
Complete brief surveys used to evaluate the training program(s).
Commit to active and enthusiastic participation in all required consultation calls (15 calls total).
Applicant must be willing to pay for daily parking at GMU ($19.50 per day).

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Email CEBBH@gmu.edu for further information.