Building Social Competence through Social Skills Group
Life InSight
It is probably more important than ever, in this digital age, to develop social competency in children. While technology offers us unprecedented connectivity with one another, developing the essential skills of face-to-face interactions can be negatively impacted by our overreliance on digital interactions. Furthermore, many children, whether they face developmental challenges or not, may struggle to intuitively grasp the intricacies and nuances of effective communication, social graces, and emotional regulation in various social scenarios. Direct teaching of these skills can neutralize the impact of technology and innate challenges. It can equip children with tools to navigate their social worlds more effectively. Children can learn to recognize social cues that will help them understand the impact of their behavior on others and be taught to think more flexibly and engage in active listening and problem-solving which will serve them well as they face increasingly complex social interactions.
While many children benefit from learning these skills in one-to-one settings, there are several advantages to group-based skills training. Group settings mimic real-world scenarios and dynamics. Utilizing cooperative activities, role-play, games, and conversation, children are placed in similar situations that they would be in their lives. They learn to negotiate interpersonal dynamics, tolerate other’s opinions, and give and receive feedback respectfully. As this is a highly facilitated experience, they can receive coaching in real-time from the group facilitator to support their success in the group and hopefully generalize that success outside of the group. Successful group interactions can provide children with the confidence that they need to be successful outside of the group, which is of course the goal. And probably most importantly, it is just more fun! While those of us who did not grow up in the digital age may lament the loss of certain aspects of interpersonal relatedness, group social skills training may help bridge those gaps and set our children up for social success no matter what technological evolutions lie ahead.
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