PEERS Social Skills Programs

​PEERS® Social Skills Programs at NQ Family Therapy Centre - Face to Face and Online Training. ​

We are very excited to announce that our team members at NQFTC are Certified PEERS trainers.

PEERS® for Adolescents is an evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated teens in middle and high school who are interested in making and keeping friends and/or handling conflict and rejection. Teens and parents attend 14-weekly group sessions for 90 minutes per week.

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is world-renowned for providing evidence-based social skills treatment to preschoolers, adolescents, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and other socio-emotional problems.

The PEERS social skills program for adolescents and young adults utilizes strategies such as direct didactic instruction, role-play to learn new skills, and increased awareness and management of cognitions. The innovation of PEERS® to other programmes is the intensive training of parents/carers, use of Socratic method, provision of real-world opportunities to develop skills and gain feedback in naturalistic settings, use of integrated role play/demonstration, behaviour rehearsal and experiential learning.

PEERS groups focus on obtaining core social skills such as developing and maintaining friendships, improving conversational skills, entering and exiting group interactions, and handling teasing as well as losing when playing competitive games. Studies have demonstrated significant improvements in social ability following participation in the PEERS intervention. 

Teens will learn about:

• Developing and maintaining friendships
• Conversational skills
• Entering and exiting conversations
• Electronic communication
• Using humour appropriately
• Organising get-togethers
• Being a good sport
• Handling disagreements
• Changing a bad reputation
• Handling teasing and bullying

 
What are the participation requirements?

• Have friendship problems
• Teens in middle school or high school
• Teens must be interested in attending the program
• Teens must agree to participate in the program voluntarily
• Teens must consistently attend the program
• Parent must be willing to participate

 
How can I apply to participate?

• Contact our office at 0466 341 420 or [email protected] to complete a 15-minute phone screen with a member of our staff, and subsequently receive an enrolment packet.
• Complete and return your enrolment packet.
• Come to NQ Family Therapy Centre (parent and teen) for a 1.5-hour intake appointment with one of our clinicians to determine if our program is appropriate for you and your teen.

When do groups meet?

• Duration: 14 weeks
• Planned Days: Wednesdays
• Planned Terms: Year Round
• Planned Frequency: Wednesday sessions: 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Where do groups take place?

• NQ Family Therapy Centre

More information?
Contact our office at 0466 341 420 or [email protected]