PEERS for Children and Teenagers

The PEERS program for children and teenagers consists of 12 structured group sessions, focussed on teaching social skills to develop and maintain social relationships with others.

Week by week program

• Week 1: Trading Information and Starting Conversations
• Week 2: Trading Information and Maintaining Conversations
• Week 3: Finding a Source of Friends
• Week 4: Electronic Communication
• Week 5: Appropriate Use of Humour
• Week 6: Entering Group Conversations
• Week 7: Exiting Conversations
• Week 8: Get-Togethers
• Week 9: Handling Disagreements
• Week 10: Handling Direct Bullying
• Week 11: Handling Indirect Bullying
• Week 12: Moving Forward and Graduation

And Pre-Treatment Assessments and Post Treatment Assessment and Feedback

Format

Sessions are taught once per week for 90 minutes, with the social coaching group taught concurrently.

Sessions include

Sessions with the pre-teens and adolescents are formatted to include:

• Didactic lessons using concrete rules and steps for a given social skill.
• Role play demonstrations.
• Perspective taking questions based on role play demonstrations.
• Behavioural rehearsal exercises in order to practise the skills being taught with performance feedback.
• Homework assignment.
• Homework review.

Sessions with the social coaches include:

• Homework review.
• Presentation of the didactic lessons and role play demonstrations being taught.
• Review of lesson and homework with children/teenagers.