SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING INSTITUTE
Summer Intensive Professional Training:
Facilitated by Directors of SuperKids Nancy Widdows, LPC and Barbara Cooper, LMHC.
Workshops will be held in our Ridgefield office at 898 Ethan Allen Highway.
 
The Art of Group and Individual Therapy
with Children and Teens on the Autism Spectrum
This three part seminar is designed for professionals who want to learn an innovative approach to group and individual therapy with children who have social skills disabilities. The presenters, who use extensive case examples, will help participants learn about life through the lens of a social disability, how children and teens with Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, PDD-NOS and NVLD experience the world and misperceive the social world. Using CBT, Art Therapy and a relational perspective, participants will learn innovative hands on ways to help these children and teens. The ins and outs of assessments, group structure and group therapy as well as individual therapy will be discussed at length. An opportunity for ongoing supervision after the training will be presented for participants who want to consult with the presenters either individually or in a group supervision setting where cases can be discussed.
Tuesday, July 15: 9am – 1pm: Who are the children and teens with social disabilities?
An in-depth overview of Asperger’s Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism, NVLD and PDD-NOS will be presented using case vignettes and artwork by clients. How children and teens with social disabilities experience the world and interpersonal relationships will be discussed at length.  The common social pitfalls that these children and teens experience at different developmental stages will be outlined.
Thursday, July 17: 9am – 1pm: How to Help!
The use of CBT, Art Therapy and a relational framework will be presented. How to make the abstract social world more concrete to help your clients take in and use the information you are presenting will be taught and practiced.
Tuesday July 22: 9am – 1pm: Assessments, Group and Individual Therapy.
Assessing clients for treatment is an integral part of good practice. Conducting assessments with a social skills focus to decide if a child or teen is group ready will be discussed. Group composition and the balance of group vs. individual goals will be explored. How to structure individual therapy to most effectively meet the child’s social needs will be covered.
Time for questions and case discussions will be provided.
 
Barbara Cooper and Nancy Widdows, authors of Knowing Yourself, Knowing Others: Activities that Teach Social Sense and The Social Success Workbook, run SuperKids, a private practice that provides social skills programs for children ages 4 – 20. They train school personnel, social workers and psychologists nationally through their Social Skills 911 workshops. They have trained paraprofessionals, teachers and psychosocial staff in numerous school districts and tailor their seminars to meet the needs of the particular district. Past participants have commented on Barbara and Nancy’s engaging style, their understanding of the therapeutic needs of their clients, and the useful strategies offered to take away and apply to clinical practice.