BUILD A SOCIAL LIFE THAT WORKS FOR YOU
Evidence-Based Skills for Teens and Young Adults
BUILD A SOCIAL LIFE THAT WORKS FOR YOU
Evidence-Based Skills for Teens and Young Adults
PEERS® Social Skills Groups
Evidence-Based Programs
For over 20 years, PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) has been rigorously researched and developed at UCLA. PEERS® groups are focused on helping you build your own social life in the real world. In one group, teens and young adults learn and practice social skills together; in a separate group, parents & caregivers learn how to support them effectively.
Make & Keep Friends
PEERS® is a 16-week interactive class for adolescents, young adults, and their parents and caregivers. PEERS® groups focus on making and keeping friends in the real world. The curriculum covers:
- Conversation Skills
- Choosing Good Friends
- Arguments & Disagreements
- Texting & Social Media
- Appropriate Humor
- Teasing & Bullying
- Get-Togethers
- Dating (young adult program only)
These Skills Work in the Real World
The social skills taught in PEERS® are "ecologically valid," which is a research term meaning you will learn skills that come from the real world and have been proven to work in the real world. In order to figure out what skills to teach, researchers observed real interactions between real people. Then, researchers tested these skills in the real world again to make sure they work. These skills are "tried and true," and they remain useful throughout adulthood.
Social Skills are NOT Mysterious
Social skills are just like any other skill - cooking, juggling, playing a sport, a video game or a musical instrument - the more you learn and practice, the better you will get. Every week in PEERS®, group members learn and practice new skills. Practice often includes role plays, games, and other structured activities designed to give you an opportunity to try these skills for yourself with the support of our facilitators. You will also receive weekly assignments to help guide you with practicing skills at home and using them in the real world.
Parent & Caregiver Support
While the teens and young adults are meeting, parents and caregivers will also meet in their own separate group. Every teen or young adult who joins PEERS® will also have a parent or caregiver join as their "social coach." Each week, social coaches will learn the same material as their teens and young adults and receive guidance on how to support their teen or young adult through PEERS®. Social coaches practice skills at home together with their teen or young adult, help them understand what they're doing well and what to work on, and support them with planning and strategizing about how to apply these skills successfully in their everyday lives.
Passionate, Qualified Facilitators
Group members will also receive extensive guidance, support, and feedback from our passionate, qualified team of facilitators. Typical student-teacher ratios for our groups are roughly 1:3 or 1:4. All facilitators are fully trained and certified in the facilitation of PEERS® programs through the Semel Institute at UCLA.
For more information about our facilitators, click here: