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Social Skills Groups

We offer several evidence-based social skills groups for children and youth at Launch Behavioural Services. All groups are offered in-person at our clinic. 

Registration is closed

Children’s Friendship Training (CFT) Social Skills Group (ages 8-12)

Starts September 17th until December 3rd, 2024 (10 sessions, no session on October 8th and November 5th).

Tuesdays from 5-6 pm for both children and parent sessions (concurrent sessions in-person)

Fee $1,250

We offer social skills groups based on the Children Friendship Training (CFT) program (Frankle & Myatt, 2003) for children ages 8-12. Our goal is to teach your child how to apply skills learned within the group, with peers at school, and in the community. Skills will be taught in a small-group format with 6-8 children and 1 lead instructor and an assistant instructor.

Session dates: September 17, September 24, October 1, October 15, October 22, October 29, November 12, November 19, November 26, December 3 (child session only)

Our children social skills group address social functioning in several areas:

  • Conversational skills
  • Peer group entry
  • Expanding and developing friendship networks
  • Handling teasing
  • Practicing good sportsmanship
  • Practicing good host behaviour during playdates

What we offer:

  • One 60-minute session per week, for 10 sessions
  • One 60-minute parent session per week (concurrently with the children’s sessions), for 10 sessions
  • Manualized curriculum
  • Opportunities to connect and interact with all children within the program
  • Supervision by a Registered Behaviour Analyst 

Commitment from parents:

  • Participation in homework or parent training opportunities
  • Attendance at weekly parent group meetings
  • Ongoing communication about challenges, concerns or progress

Who can participate:

Children ages 8-12 and their caregivers can participate in CFT. Children should be able to maintain shared focus in conversations, speak about their interests, play board games and group games, and participate in group lessons for at least 15 minutes. Children should also be interested in making friends.

An intake interview will be scheduled prior to the program to ensure suitability of participants and to review expectations.

PEERS® Youth Social Skills Group (ages 13-17)

Starts September 17th until December 4th, 2024 (12 weeks)

Teen sessions (in person) on Wednesdays 4:30-6:00 pm (from September 18th until December 4th, 2024; time to be confirmed)

Parent sessions (virtual over Zoom) on Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 pm (from September 17th until December 3rd, 2024; time to be confirmed)

Fee $1500

We offer social skills groups based on the PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) Curriculum (Laugeson, 2014) for adolescents. PEERS® is an evidence-based friendship training program for middle school and high school students who are diagnosed with ASD or related disabilities and have primarily difficulties with making and keeping friends. During weekly sessions, skills are taught in a small-group lesson format with opportunities to practice with the peers in the group.

An eligibility assessment, including an interview with your teen, will be conducted to determine if your teen meets the pre-requisite criteria to join the social skills group. This assessment is essential to identify if your child displays the prerequisite skills to learn within a group setting. Your child should also display motivation to learn the skills for making and keeping friends.

The sessions will be conducted in a small group format with 1 lead instructor and 1 assistant instructor. 

The goals of the program include:

  • Trading information
  • Conversational skills
  • Electronic communication
  • Choosing appropriate friends
  • Appropriate use of humor
  • Peer entry and exit strategies
  • Get-togethers
  • Good sportsmanship
  • Handling teasing, bullying, and bad reputation
  • Handling arguments and disagreements
  • Handling rumours and gossip

What we offer:

  • One 90-minute sessions weekly, for 12 weeks
  • One 60-minute parent meetings via Zoom
  • Manualized curriculum
  • Opportunities to connect and interact with all youth within the program
  • Supervision by a Registered Behaviour Analyst 

Commitment from parents:

  • Attendance at parent group meetings
  • Participation in homework or parent training opportunities
  • Provide coaching in socialization opportunities during the week
  • Ongoing communication about challenges, concerns or progress

Register For Our Next Social Skills Groups!

Registration is closed


Dalton Associates (DA) and Launch Behavioural Health acknowledge that we are situated on Turtle Island, that has been inhabited by Indigenous Peoples from the beginning. As a settler-owned organization, we are always working on de-colonizing our practices and offering mental health services that reflect a wholistic approach to health and wellness. Our clients come from a variety of backgrounds, and include First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. We want to do more than make a difference at an individual level: we aspire to support a societal shift in the way that mental health is addressed and cared for, and we believe that a cross-cultural approach, bringing Indigenous worldviews to the forefront, is necessary to help break the system and rebuild it in a way that promotes healthy wellbeing for future generations. We are actively engaged in changing the landscape of mental health care in Ontario, by augmenting (and compensating) the voices and experiences of Indigenous knowledge keepers, and by incorporating Indigenous values and teachings in our program models.