Most psychological challenges including anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, conduct disorders, oppositional defiant disorder are characterized by impairments in social functioning. There are individual differences in a child’s social development that underline the need to comprehensively understand each individual child’s social functioning prior to implementation of social therapy approaches. In some situations, a child may lack understanding about a particular social skill such as joining in a conversation and thus would benefit from being taught the skill and practicing the skill across contexts. In other cases, a child may have awareness and exposure to a specific social skill or have knowledge about socially appropriate behaviors. However, the child is not able to apply the skills in a real-life situation or struggles with applying the skill in a fluid manner across home, school, and peer domains. Although some children may demonstrate social engagement in simplified contexts such as applying specific social skills in a single situation, they may have difficulty implementing the same knowledge and skills in situations that are more emotionally demanding or socially complex.
We make assumptions about the linear progression of social skills without considering foundational skills, the influence of other skills such as executive function, and the complexity of what it takes to achieve social effectiveness. Social interactions are multi-step cognitive, behavioral, emotional processes. For example, a child must understand what is being stated, have emotional awareness, organize thoughts, engage in perspective-taking, monitor their own emotions and the emotions of others, prioritize responses, retrieve, and express appropriate words to communicate thoughts and emotions, and possess the self-confidence to engage in self-expression. Social effectiveness requires far more than memorizing social behaviors and applying them across contexts. It requires a level of comfort and fluency that exceeds social demands.
Sageforth® Social understands the need to integrate functional knowledge and skills, assess the child’s unique social functioning and social challenges across different contexts, and incorporate a developmental lens. Sageforth® Social Therapy Groups are based on research in child psychology, child development, and clinical experience to address the strong need for an effective approach that helps children achieve social effectiveness and maintain it into adulthood.
© 2024 Sageforth® Psychological Services and Sarah Mahnaz Vanlandingham, PsyD