1949 1/2 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Group Therapy

best social skills group therapy in los angeles

Children are grouped by developmental age and similar ability levels

Looking for the best social skills group therapy in Los Angeles? The COMPASS social skills group is our flagship program which started as Dr. Erika Rich’s doctoral dissertation and has grown into a program recognized by professional and families in the Los Angeles area as the gold standard in social skills groups for children. No other clinic in Los Angeles can compete with the wealth of clinical expertise, years of experience, and excellent outcomes that Compass Clinic boasts.

Compass Clinic typically has between 18 and 22 social skills group running concurrently and continuously throughout the year, in addition to our social skills camp, Friendship Island. As such, we have the luxury of placing children in the absolute best group for optimal social-emotional progress. We have a 3:1 child to therapist ratio in our groups, ensuring that no interaction goes unnoticed. Your child’s group will be led by at least one doctoral-level therapist (either a Licensed Psychologist or a Postdoctoral Fellow) and one master’s level therapist which lends a high level of expertise to our child facilitation techniques. All of our group therapists are trained and supervised directly by Dr. Erika Rich, leveraging her 25 years of experience teaching social skills to children into a clinic-wide knowledge base. All of the activities have been developed and curated by Compass Clinic under Dr. Rich’s leadership, providing a unique and tailored approach that takes the best of the evidence-based strategies available and fine-tunes them for effective application at each developmental stage. We do not adhere to just one particular manual or set of materials that will inevitably become stale, out-of-date, and irrelevant to the way children and families interact naturally in current times. Instead we are constantly re-evaluating our program and adding in the best of the best. We are continually evolving our curriculums to best meet the needs of our clients, at this moment today, in Los Angeles.

We offer a number of group therapy curriculums depending on your child’s grade level:

We keep age ranges small to ensure that your child feels a part of a peer group. Typically, group members are no more than one grade level apart. We draw from dozens of area schools, but also take into account whether children are from the same grade at the same school. While this is actually a rare occurrence, we do resolve these conflicts directly with the parents to ensure a comfortable group experience.

We require an initial 8-session commitment to our group programs, although in this short time period we are only able to evaluate whether we are on the right track. You may then go month-to-month and it’s expected that children will continue past the initial 8 weeks and work closely with their child’s lead group therapist to determine the best length of treatment to achieve your child’s goals. We do not allow trial sessions due to confidentiality reasons and to protect group dynamics. It is quite difficult on current group members to have additional group members dropping in and out of the program. The group members must get to a place of stability and comfort with each other for the interactions to develop in meaningful ways and for the social skills development to occur at a deeper level.

What makes our social skills program unique is based on several factors. First, is the experience level of our therapists is head and shoulders above similar groups in the community. Therapists that run our social skills group are licensed psychologists or post-doctoral fellows, with the assistance of master’s level therapists. All therapists complete a rigorous in-house training protocol that elevates their group facilitation skill set even higher. Because group therapy requires a different and specialized skill set above and beyond that of an individual therapist. If anything, group therapy leaders should be even more experienced and trained than your average individual therapist in order to provide the highest quality care to the entire group of children, simultaneously. On that note, we also have an excellent adult:child ratio of 3:1, allowing greater attention to all children in the group.

We offer make-up sessions and include a parent component, ensuring the greatest opportunity for growth not just in our setting, but at home and school as well. As noted above, we have a large number of groups allowing for the best clinical fit and we also take the extra step of requiring an intake appointment so that we make that decision based on the most accurate information possible. This results in a better experience for your child entering a new group and also for the other children already enrolled. Finally, because all of our group leaders are experienced therapists, they are capable of providing additional support to your child and family if required. In light of the amount of time they observe your child interacting with adults and peers while faced with a number of social and emotional challenges, these therapists are in an excellent position to provide you with trustworthy, expert feedback. And because we are fully functioning mental health clinic, we can support most of your needs, from Psychological Evaluation to individual therapy, right here. You don’t need to look any further. You’re already here, at Compass Clinic.