PEERS® Social Skills Groups

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a social skills training intervention developed at UCLA by Elizabeth Laugeson to support individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other social disorders who have difficulty with peer interactions and relationships.

PEERS® has a strong evidence base for use with adolescents and young adults with ASD but is also appropriate for preschoolers, adolescents and young adults with ADHD, anxiety, depression and other socioemotional challenges. Research has demonstrated that gains made over the course of the program are maintained 3-5 years later. For links to published findings of the efficacy of the program go to PEERS research.

PEERS differs from other social skills programs because it:

• is evidence-based
• includes parents throughout treatment
• is structured like a class, not a therapy group
• breaks down social skills into understandable steps
• teaches ecologically valid social skills based on behavior of socially successful individuals
• generalizes social skills to “real life” settings and includes skills that transfer to the workplace

Dates: 

Tuesdays from 6:30 pm to 8pm. 

Sept 5 to Nov 15 (with the week of halloween off)

Ages:  Young teens 11-15 years

Weekly Groups:  10-weekly groups

• 90 min Teen group
• 90 min Parent group 
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PEERS® for Teens is a 10-week, evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated teens in middle and high school interested in learning ways to make and keep friends. 

The Teens program is open to clients ages 11-18 who have difficulty initiating and maintaining friendships. Teens learn social skills through didactic instruction, live demonstrations by trained coaches, and extensive practice via group play activities such as sports, board games, etc., while receiving real-time, individualized coaching from clinical staff. Regular attendance is imperative to program success.

Parents attend weekly group sessions, held simultaneously with the client group, where they learn how to assist their teen by providing feedback and coaching for weekly socialization homework assignments. Weekly attendance for parents/caregivers is a program requirement.

Topics include:

• Use appropriate conversational skills
• Use humor appropriately
• Use electronic communication
• Enter & exit conversations
• Be a good host during get-togethers
• How to be a good sport
• Handle arguments and disagreements
• Change a bad reputation
• Handle rumors and gossip
• Handle rejection, teasing and bullying