Navigating and learning how to be successful in social situations can be a difficult process. Everyone has probably experienced at least one social situation where they either handled it poorly or were not sure what path they should take. For children, the same situation can occur, and for some it occurs often. For those who regularly experience difficulty in social situations, social skills groups can help.

Social skills groups are different from a traditional play date or peer-based hangout – they are a supervised therapeutic event where the goal is to help children and adolescents gain skills in social interaction. These groups help children learn joint attention, problem solving, and how to handle the challenges of social situations while having positive and fun social experiences with peers.

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Social interaction plays an important role in learning. In fact, interacting with other people has proven to be effective in assisting students to organize their thoughts, reflect on their understanding, and find gaps in their reasoning. Building good relationships with other people can also greatly reduce stress and anxiety in one’s life.  

 

This group aims to teach and reinforce how to interact appropriately with same-age peers. Specifically, children will learn:

• How to engage in conversation

• How to create friendships

• Learn ways to improve their problem-solving skills

• How to control emotions and

• How to understand other peers’ perspectives.

 

 

Key Group Target Areas: 
 

-Communicating

-Listening

-Recognizing and Expressing Emotions

-Participation

-Problem Solving 

-Advocacy

-Sharing

-Waiting

-Turn Taking

-Making Friends