Phone: (847) 303-1880
Fax: (847) 303-1881
Fax: (847) 303-1881
Did you know BPA offers an extensive range of social skills groups for children and adolescents? In fact, we have been running social skills groups in our community for over 20 years!
Our developmentally appropriate groups are designed to help children and adolescents learn to read non-verbal social cues, improve their conversational ability, and learn skills to deal with social problems, for example, teasing, peer pressure, and criticism. We offer groups for young children (1st-3rd grade), grade school aged children (3rd-5th grade), middle school students, and early high school teens.
For children with social skills challenges, many social situations can be frustrating and difficult. They may misinterpret social cues and mistake others’ emotions. Other children may have limited skills for dealing with teasing and bullies. Limited social opportunities can leave some children feeling isolated, without the skills to make and maintain friendships.
Social skills groups provide the opportunity to teach children specific skills within a group of their peers. Social skills are practiced during the sessions and children receive feedback to improve their abilities.
Social skills groups are also fun! Children and teens enjoy belonging to a group of peers, sharing experiences, and playing games.
Our skill-based groups are led by licensed professionals. Each group session focuses on a specific skill or topic. Live modeling, videotaped modeling, role-playing, and feedback are used to help students practice the skills. Groups also include time for games and less structured interaction.
We also believe in the importance of getting parents involved so that skills that are taught at BPA have a greater chance of being seen at home and in the community. Weekly agendas inform parents about the topics and how to help their child apply the skills in social settings. Parents also receive written feedback to help them monitor their child's progress in the program. Finally, and depending on the specific group, parent training sessions are offered as part of the experience.
Typical lessons may include:
The groups are for children and adolescents who have difficulty making and keeping friends.
We run groups in our Hoffman Estates office.
$75.00 per 50 minute session*
(*insurance often covers the group fees).
Groups are limited to 6-8 participants and run by licensed, experienced clinicians. We offer a 10 week session in the Fall, Winter and Spring.
Group fees may be covered by insurance. The following groups are being offered:
Contact Virginia Seng, Ph.D. (x19), or Kristy Kipka, Psy.D. (x27), for more information.
