Social Cognitive Therapy for Navigating Social Interactions

If your child exhibits any of the following, social cognitive therapy can help: 

• Mental health conditions such as social anxiety & depression
• Low self-esteem as a result of difficulty navigating the social world
• Difficulty making friends
• Difficulty reading/interpreting body language & facial expressions 
• Difficulty navigating conversations  
• Difficulty taking perspective  
• Difficulty expressing/understanding feelings 
• Decreased self-control/self-regulation  
• Difficulty answering open-ended questions, understanding jokes, innuendos, idioms, colloquialism, or difficulty with academics in reading,and writing

After a phone intake is complete, documents are sent to the client/family to complete the case history. This will assist the evaluating therapist in gathering background information and planning the evaluation. If the client has had a recent evaluation (within 6-12 months), we recommend those evaluations be shared to gather additional details. Upon arrival at KidSense, the client proceeds to the evaluation session where formal and informal measures may be used to evaluate the areas of need. Based on client/family needs, a brief recap of the preliminary findings are shared, however, the therapist or family may elect to set up an additional time to review results and recommendations.

Aside from working as a team to best support your child with the in-house services we offer, we often collaborate with home and school-based teams, pediatricians, and specialists to meet our client's goals and address areas of need. 

Much of our teachings are based on philosophies from a variety of specialists with a background in social communication and self-regulation as well as our own lessons that we have developed over our years of practice.

We work together to support an individual to consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and intentions of others while simultaneously breaking down and teaching more abstract social concepts.

Here at KidSense, we teach our clients how to be “social spies” in and out of the therapeutic setting. We help them learn how to use their bodies, brains, eyes, and words to connect with other people, as well as how to understand the perspective of others and how they can influence those perspectives.

We help our clients learn about friendship, how we make different  impressions on others, how to make connections, and how to deal with the “boring moments.” We use visual cues and fun activities to practice these concepts and many others during our sessions. We set them up for success, catch them in the moment and praise them for  working through behaviors. 

Many of our clients have been labeled the “troublemaker” or “lazy” and become accustomed to negative attention, as social-cognitive deficits can often be an invisible diagnosis. It is our goal to deconstruct those labels and help them have more meaningful social experiences. 

To address self-regulation, we focus on developing the 8th sense, interoception, as well as using tools to teach them about emotions and feelings. In addition to addressing self-regulation clients develop their emotional vocabulary, ability to read facial expressions, develop perspective on how others see and react to the world around them, insight on events that trigger their behavior, calming and alerting strategies, and problem-solving skills.

Those with social cognitive difficulties may have developmentally appropriate communication skills, yet may be  unable to successfully apply those skills in their everyday life. If your child has difficulty with self-regulation and or social learning, there is often a struggle with the use of language and application in social contexts. There may also be difficulties engaging in appropriate social interactions and uncertainty on how to act, or “be” with other people. Our speech and language pathologists are skilled in working with all forms of language, including pragmatic language. Although your child may not exhibit a speech or language delay, social learning therapy can help if the need is to support or improve social communication. 

Our occupational therapists are skilled in working with sensory and emotional regulation. If self-regulation is a struggle, social cognitive therapy can help. Being social, playing, and “hanging out” with children or older adults is one of the most meaningful occupations in life. If someone is exhibiting depressive symptoms, struggling with getting along with others, joining in with peers, and participating in social events, our speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists can teach the client to better understand the social environment and how to navigate it with more ease.

Social cognitive skills are needed to learn and be part of a group. Difficulty understanding the perspective of the teacher and other students in group activities can impact a child's success in the classroom. Given that social cognition is an executive function, we often see decreased organization, time management, and difficulties transitioning from one activity to the next, which can impact a 'bright' student's academic success. These children also have difficulty interpreting and responding appropriately to a lesson or question as skills such as reading comprehension and writing requires a significant amount of social cognition to determine main ideas, point of view, facts/opinions, etc. Additionally, students may have difficulty understanding the hidden or unwritten social rules of school environments (classroom, hallway, recess, cafeteria, assembly, school dances) which can result in disciplinary action in school. 

Some other identifying concerns include: 

• Challenges with reading, writing, or history because of attention, organization, literal thinking, sequencing, or perspective-taking difficulties
• Hesitancy or inability to ask for help when needed

The signs of social-cognitive challenges can range from subtle to overt. They may include:

• Social anxiety and/or low self-esteem
• Withdrawal; difficulty making and keeping friends
• Difficulty reading or interpreting body language and facial expressions
• Difficulty to take the listener’s perspective
• Difficulty understanding or expressing feelings
• Decreased self-control/self-regulation
• Difficulty to answer open-ended questions, such as “What happened?”
• Difficulty engaging in a conversational exchange
• Difficulty with abstract language, including verbal problem solving (why, when, how do you know?), double meanings, innuendos, jokes, and colloquialism (such as “You hit the nail on the head”)
• Poor academics in areas of reading comprehension, history, writing, etc.
• Weak organizational and/or time management and difficulty prioritizing

Family involvement is an integral part of our therapy and helps lead to success. As part of each weekly session, we provide parent/caregiver/partner education during a portion of each session. This involves discussing any vocabulary, concepts, or lessons that were introduced each week as well as ideas about how to carry over skills learned in therapy in other environments. Part of a child’s communication success also comes from the success of their communication partners and communication environments. We aim to highlight the successes of our client’s social communication skills and educate families on ways to recognize these across settings, as well as how to create environments where their child might experience more communicative success. 

KidSense offers a range of social learning services and playgroups that accommodate clients from ages 3 to adult. Groupings are determined with great care by our therapists after a consultation and review of the client’s history is conducted. We also provide individual sessions for those who would benefit from more direct support.

Our groups are composed of two to four (and occasionally five) clients who are matched according to their age, maturity, cognitive level, and level of social awareness. We are very careful to structure our groups to avoid anxiety for the clients involved and to ensure that the lessons are appropriately geared to all members of a group. Each group typically meets one time per week for 60 minutes. Each session concludes with a parent wrap-up during the last 10 minutes. This parental involvement is a crucial component of our approach and another differentiator that sets KidSense apart from other programs.

Groups run year-round. KidSense has scheduled sessions but can accommodate new sessions at any time if there are openings in current groups or a need to start a new group.

To place each client in the most appropriate group for his or her needs, we schedule a 45-minute initial screening or evaluation session. In this meeting, we perform a dynamic social observation that can help us match them in the best placement and determine the appropriate roadmap of services. The prerequisites for a client participating in a group of three or more clients include:

•     Ability to focus on an activity for 15-20 minutes
•     Basic conversational skills
•     Ability to follow directions that are appropriate for group dynamics
•     Ability to self regulate around peers with minimal support

We can help you determine your needs after doing an initial screening or evaluation. For some clients, it is helpful to start with individual sessions so they can learn some social prerequisites before they jump in with their peers.

We provide a safe, supportive, and fun environment that most clients find reinforcing and enjoyable. We incorporate individual preferences and interests, as well as humor, into each lesson. Our clients practice their new skills in engaging and interesting ways, including games, acting, watching movie clips, and occasionally going on community outings. Inevitably there will be “boring moments” in our weekly sessions, just as there are in life. We teach our clients how to get through these moments as well as the importance of attending during these moments. Our therapists enjoy their clients and the clients enjoy their therapists!

If behavior is impacting a child’s ability to work with a group, we work to tailor the support for that client so that they can find success. This may include individual work on self-regulation, cognitive behavior therapy, as well as additional consultation with parents and teachers/professionals who work closely with the child and team. 

Our rates vary depending on the number of clients in a small-group or individual session. For more information, please contact us to discuss your needs and availability for placement.

KidSense is unable to bill insurance plans for groups directly. However, we can provide a Superbill with both a billing code (CPT) and a diagnosis code (if provided by your child’s physician). You can submit these invoices to your insurance provider for reimbursement, as some plans will reimburse for group therapy by a licensed speech and language pathologist or occupational therapist. Please contact your insurance provider directly to establish whether you are eligible for reimbursement.