Social Skills Groups
Social Skills Group for Youth Aged 12-18
Our social skills training program provides young people aged 12-18 with the opportunity to enhance their social skills in a supportive, peer-driven environment.
Each social skills training session focuses on varied, specific social skills, from relationship-building, and self-regulation through to conflict-resolution skills. Our program is structured to build on each week’s learnings through exercises, role-playing, and real-world applications that help create comfort around social skills in a practical and accessible way. With friendly reassurance and a structured setting to explore the nuances of social interaction, teens can build these important skills away from the intimidating pressures of the everyday.
Social Skills Program Highlights:
Target Age:
Our social skills group training supports young people aged 12-18 who may struggle with social interactions, anxiety, or difficulty making friends. We believe that everyone needs a safe and reassuring environment to work on crucial social skills and that a group environment can be an effective space for young people to build their confidence when managed with care and expertise. We're a nurturing and supportive setting for teens to build their confidence, no matter what basis they are starting from. At Joanne Fitzgerald Therapy, we focus specifically on teenagers and adolescents throughout our entire practice, so you can rest assured that our practitioners are experts in the nuances that come with working with young people.
Evidence-Based Modalities for Building Social Skills
Our social skills groups work through activities and exercises grounded in research-based therapeutic approaches. Our two primary approaches include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Social Learning Theory (SLT). Both of these therapeutic modalities are aimed at changing behaviour and thought patterns to build a happier, healthier mind. They're both extensively validated for both clinical and group settings. Using these therapeutic approaches, young people have an opportunity to build their self-esteem, build relationships and develop their problem-solving skills.
Real World Application:
Participants in our social skills groups have the opportunity to engage with peers in a relaxed, supportive environment, fostering natural social interactions while building confidence and implementing the tools taught. Sometimes it's the basics! From understanding body language and facial expressions to developing social skills alongside their peers, we help young people find their feet in social settings.
While the idea of a group setting might initially seem overwhelming, our team provide expert support in order to ensure every young person in our social skills group can start to build their confidence.
Social Skills Groups and their benefits
We curate a safe and supportive, understanding environment with a person-centred approach, so that participants can form healthy relationships and form strong social skills for life.
While we offer one-to-one therapy options to help build these social skills, we understand that replicating social environments is difficult in an individual setting. While the idea of group sessions might seem daunting for shy teens at first, our group facilitator will provide expert support to ensure that everyone can benefit and participate meaningfully. In these groups, we target specific behaviours and provide tangible learnings without the high pressure of external factors – that's why our social skills group sessions are an ideal environment.
Build Stronger Social Connections
This program is ideal for young people looking to develop stronger social connections, build self-esteem, and improve their confidence in a positive and welcoming environment. The benefit of social skills groups is that participants can work in a safe, supportive environment of their peers – other people who struggle with the same thing and are overcoming the same everyday challenges. We’re experienced in providing a structured, guided group environment that helps to support people to take the next steps and practise skills with support. Our social skills groups are a learning environment where practice and learning are the priorities – not perfection.
FAQs
Explore our FAQ section to find answers to frequently asked questions.
Our social skills groups provide a way for young people to practise their communication skills in different situations while being supported through the difficulties that can come with them. From macro elements like eye contact, understanding body language and responsive listening to bigger topics like emotional regulation, our social skills groups are designed to be supportive and reassuring from end to end.
We understand that social skills can be challenging – and through explicit teaching, there's a path for everyone to find their space. If they find school and home life challenging, or connecting with their peers and making friends to be difficult, these are some key indicators that they might benefit from working with us.
Or maybe they express difficulty in understanding social cues, facial expressions or body language. In these areas, social skills training can provide a much-needed confidence boost. For a supportive practice of these skills in a comfortable, structured environment, young people aged from 12 to 18 are all welcome.
We also offer services for those who are struggling with other elements of work or study through our one-on-one counselling services.
Our sessions use a combination of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and Social Learning Theory (SLT) to help young people build their social skills and strengths. These two complementary practices have been clinically validated to help young people build social skills and awareness, as well as in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a treatment modality developed to challenge unhealthy thoughts and behavioural patterns. It provides practical and emotional strategies for taking on the everyday challenges we all face. With the guidance of a psychotherapist or psychologist, participants build healthier coping strategies and learn to reconstruct their thought patterns and behaviours positively.
Social Learning Theory (SLT) recognises that individuals learn their social skills (and other behavioural patterns) through observing, reflecting, and rehearsing the behaviours of others. Through SLT, we can understand that seeing the appropriate behaviour modelled and engaging in role-play can reinforce healthy behaviours and social skills.
