Social Skills Group For Teens
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Use appropriate conversational skills
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Use humour appropriately
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Use electronic communication
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Enter & exit conversations
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Be a good host during get-togethers
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Be a good sport
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Handle arguments and disagreements
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Change a bad reputation
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Handle rumours and gossip
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Handle rejection, teasing and bullying
What is PEERS® for Teens?
PEERS® for Adolescents is a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated teens in high school who are interested in learning new ways of making and keeping friends. This internationally acclaimed program, used in over 35 countries, was originally developed at UCLA by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson. During each group session, teens are taught important social skills and are given the opportunity to practice these skills in session during socialisation activities. Parents attend separate sessions at the same time and are taught how to assist their teens in making and keeping friends by helping to expand their teen’s social network and providing feedback through coaching during weekly socialisation homework assignments. PEERS® may be appropriate for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression or other social and behavioural disorders. Parent participation is required.
What happens in a PEERS® for Teens session?
Teens will learn about:
• Conversational skills
• Appropriate use of humour
• Forming and maintaining friendships
• Electronic communication
• Handling direct and indirect bullying
• Managing arguments & disagreements
• Organising get-togethers with friends
• Dating skills
• Strategies for handling sexual matters
Attendees are presented with targeted skills through step-by-step instruction, role-play demonstrations, and the opportunity to practice the real-world skills through behavioural rehearsal exercises. During these behavioural rehearsals, attendees have the opportunity to practice with direct coaching from our program team.
Adolescents and young adults must be socially motivated and attend each session with a social coach.
Social coaches, these may be parents, practitioners, or educators, attend a separate group in which they are provided with additional instruction on how to coach participants through practice and provide constructive feedback.
Social coaches will learn:
Social coaches (i.e., parent, family member, adult sibling, life coach, job coach, peer mentor, support worker) attend seperate sessions at as the teens.
In these sessions, they are taught how to assist teens by providing feedback and practical support during weekly socialisation homework.
All programs meet once a week for 90 minutes over a 16-week period.
How much does PEERS® for Teens cost?
The cost of our 16-week PEERS® Program amounts to approx $303 per week or less than $100 per hour. The total program cost is $4850
This is inclusive of:
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1 X personalised initial session for parent and teen
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16 X 90 minute social skills group
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16 X 90 minute group training for the allocated social coach
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Resources provided to support participant and social coach
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Weekly homework tasks to build and develop skills between sessions
Can I use NDIS funding for PEERS® for Teens?
The National Disability Insurance scheme gives people with social and emotional challenges more choice and control over the support services they receive. PEERS® supports participants with their social, emotional and behavioural NDIS participant goals.
Funding can be utilised from the Capacity Building funds, specifically;
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Improved Relationships
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Improved Daily Living Skills
If you are self-managed or plan managed, our groups and programs can be claimed under your NDIS plan depending on your funding and goals. It is always best to check with your plan manager.
Why choose PEERS® for Teens?
The PEERS® program has been shown to be effective through multiple randomised controlled trials and maintenance of gains 1-5 years after treatment has been evidenced. To be evidence based the program has had to u ndergo substantial clinical trials and research to gather data to support its efficacy. After the 16 week PEERS® program, research results revealed an overall improvement in social skills, reported by caregivers. This included cooperative social behaviour with peers and caregivers, social assertiveness and self-control. After the 16 week program, participants showed significant improvements in social responsiveness, due to the programs attention to receptive and expressive social communication skills. Participants also significantly improve their empathy after the 16 week program. This may be due to an increase of social cognitive skills, leading people to understand people’s mental and emotional states to make sense of the people’s behaviour. The PEERS® program reduced self-reported loneliness due to greater participation in social activities and hobbies, as well as the development of friendship. Frequency of invited get-togethers (i.e., social invitations extended to the participant from non-PEERS friends) increased greatly according to caregiver report.
Where can I read more about the research?
PEERS® for Adolescents
