Social Skills

Does your child struggle when engaging with other children?

Have attempts to help your child navigate social situations been unsuccessful? 

Does your child prefer being online to face-to-face interactions?

There are a variety of reasons that children and adolescents may struggle with peers.  Let’s face it:  kids today get much less unstructured face to face time with their friends.  The learning opportunities for social skills can be less available.

Social media and video games, the preferred activity for many children and teens, can negatively impact communication skills and even a child’s ability to feel comfortable around other people.

In addition, children with an ASD or ADHD diagnosis often have difficulty with peer interaction.  Anxious kids can also experience challenging peer relationships.  Sometimes, a child has a learning difference or processing issue that complicates the typical back and forth of play and engagement.

Individual counseling helps address social skill challenges and other issues that are related, such as challenges with emotional regulation, behaviors, self-esteem, and challenging friendship and family dynamics.

Our Therapists are trained to assess these issues and provide a tailored treatment approach that helps a child learn and practice positive coping strategies.  At CFCE, our counseling approach also includes involvement of the parents (and siblings/other caregivers) to help everyone better support the child or teen.

The benefits of counseling with a focus on social skills include:

• Improved emotional regulation and expression
• Specific skills designed to help a child interact successfully with peers, such as:
  • Communication skills (including learning to read facial expression and body language)
  • Negotiation and compromise skills
  • Ability to provide empathy and understanding to others
  • Problem-solving
• Increased understanding of self and improved self-esteem
• Reduced anxiety and worry about social interactions and settings
• Improved interpersonal relationships with family and friends

Groups for kids also provide the necessary structure and skills that help kids do better socially.  CFCE’s CHILL group addresses social skills within a broader curriculum (Read more about CHILL under Educational Programs on our website).

Please contact us today for additional information about how we can help your family through therapeutic counseling, group education, or both!