In such a socially-focused culture, it is essential to find the right social skills training groups for your children. The ideal atmosphere will teach your children how to carry their newly learned social skills and apply them to their everyday lives. With new friendships, teachers, parents and beyond, a child’s social skill development will affect their relationships with others, and will also make a positive impact their own personal lives and well-being.
There are a few key elements that social skills research has revealed as critical for real and sustained friendship building to take place.
• Real Change Requires Real Time: Learning social skills does not come naturally for most. Acquiring these new skills takes time and practice in order to resonate with a child. In Stepping Stones groups, a boost in self-esteem typically takes place in the first couple of months, but the skills don’t take hold until the sixth month of weekly intensive groups.
• Parent Involvement is Critical: In Stepping Stones parent groups, parents are taught the same skills the child is learning so the practice can continue at home. This repetition is developed in the child who is able to carry their developing skills into the real world.
• Social Skills Must Be Practiced Between Sessions: In order to reinforce the skills learned in groups, children must practice them outside of group sessions.
• Focus on Specific Skills: A well-structured, comprehensive social skills group must cover several common areas of weakness in children who struggle with making and maintaining friends:
- Reading social cues accurately
- Active listening
- Making a good first impression
- Developing good eye contact
- Improving communication and conversation skills
- Facilitating social entry
- Coping effectively with teasing and bullying
- Enhancing self-esteem
- Managing stress
- Developing anger control
• Groups Need to Be Carefully Formed: In order to achieve maximum benefit, several criteria are taken into consideration when placing a child into a group.
• Licensed Clinicians are a Must: It is crucial to have a group run by a licensed clinician who has had the proper training to help actualize goals set for your child. At In Step, most children’s groups are run by two therapists. Two heads are better than one!