The Resilience Builder Program® is a well-rounded support system designed to help children, teens, and young adults build essential social and emotional skills. Using proven techniques rooted in cognitive-behavioral strategies, this program gives kids the tools they need to tackle life’s challenges with confidence. Whether your child needs help with social interactions, managing emotions, or overcoming developmental obstacles, we provide personalized support from kindergarten through young adulthood. We also offer specialized groups for middle schoolers and young adults with Level 1 Autism, ensuring that every participant receives the tailored guidance they need to succeed in their everyday lives.
If your child is facing social challenges, struggling with self-regulation, or could benefit from greater persistence and resilience, the Resilience Builder Program® can help. Reach out to learn more.
Skills-Focused Group Sessions
The group operates on a semester-by-semester model (Fall, Spring, Summer). The complete curriculum is covered throughout the course of a year. Continuation beyond one semester is optional and discussed individually with the group leader. Throughout each semester, individuals participate in engaging group sessions that focus on building social strengths and emotional regulation.
Areas of focus include:
- Resilience skills like adapting to change, understanding personal space, being assertive, solving problems, and controlling emotions.
- Social skills training through role-playing and guided social interactions.
- Friendship skills are practiced in a supportive group setting to encourage positive peer relationships.
- Relaxation techniques such as calm breathing and mindfulness help manage emotions.
- Real-world practice to help participants apply these skills outside of the group.
These evidence-based strategies provide participants with the tools they need to strengthen social connections, increase resilience, manage their behavior, and enhance self-confidence.
Group Structure and Process
Each group is facilitated by a clinical psychologist or licensed clinical social worker experienced in working with youth. The program includes five key components designed to promote meaningful growth:
- Interactive Learning: Weekly discussions, activities, and role-play learning and practicing essential resilience and social skills. Group members have the opportunity to support and learn from one another.
- Play-Based Practice: Children apply friendship, communication, problem-solving, and sportsmanship skills in real-time through supervised play. Adolescent and young adult groups spend time “hanging out” with the opportunity for in-the-moment social coaching and facilitation.
- Self-Regulation Techniques: Children learn a variety of self-regulation strategies such as breathing exercises and mindfulness and given the opportunity to explore which techniques work best for them in real-life situations.
- Generalization of Skills: Each week group members are assigned a Resilience Builder assignment/activity to increase learning and generalization of skills outside of the group.
- Small Group Format: Groups are kept small (3-7 individuals) to ensure individualized attention and interaction.
- Individualized Goals: Each group member will develop an individually tailored goal which they will focus on throughout the course of the semester, sharing instances of effort towards their goal with their peers each week for purposes of accountability and recognition of self-growth.
- Parent Involvement: Parents/caregivers are provided with weekly updates detailing what skills were introduced in group and how they can best support their child’s growth in that domain.
Details
When: Groups are held by semester (Fall, Spring, and Summer)
What: Semester-long weekly group sessions (12-15 sessions in Fall and Spring; 6-7 sessions in Summer)
