EASE (Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions)

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · 2019

What it is

EASE is a brief, transdiagnostic, group-based low-intensity psychological intervention from WHO and UNICEF. It is for young adolescents (about 10–15 years) with internalising problems (stress, anxiety, low mood) that interfere with functioning, living in communities exposed to adversity. It has 7…

Format

• Overall shape. The full cycle is pre-assessment, then 7 weekly adolescent sessions with 3 caregiver sessions running alongside, then post-assessment. The manual's example timeline is about 9 weeks.
• Phase 0: preparation (before any group).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• severe mental, neurological or substance-use impairment (e.g. psychosis, severe intellectual disability, dependence). The training manual adds that EASE does not address externalising (behaviour) problems or neurodevelopmental difficulties; these need referral elsewhere.
• Caregiver sessions run about 90 minutes each (up to 2 hours for session 1). Dawson et al. (2019), an earlier description, give about 2 hours each. This guide follows the 2023/2025 versions.
• Group size: 8 is ideal and 12 at most (manual v1.0); the training manual gives 6–12 adolescents, or 6–12 caregivers, per group. Groups may be split by gender depending on context.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• How change is meant to happen. The adolescent strand teaches four evidence-supported strategies, chosen by review and by common-elements analysis (PracticeWise): identifying feelings, calming physical arousal through slow breathing, behavioural activation, and simplified problem solving with…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Cliques and power imbalances. Rotate seating and pairs.
• Helpers drifting into advice-giving or lecturing, missed risk escalations, and helper burnout.
• A rise in symptoms or new risk. EASE is not intended for severe presentations, so step up care.
• Shame about not doing it; low literacy; workbooks that are unsafe to keep at home. Allow verbal reporting.
• Contagion of distressing detail in the group, and the helper's own distress, which should be brought to supervision.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.