Groups for Children and Youth

Find a Friend : Groups for Children & Youth

Children and youth with learning disabilities are at risk to experience psychosocial difficulties, including problems with peers. The goal of group treatment is to improve the child/youth's social functioning.

Integra's Find a Friend program offers a range of treatment groups for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and related psychosocial problems. The groups vary in length from two to eight months. Group composition is carefully determined, with age, learning disability, gender and social competence taken into account.

The prime therapeutic factor occurs through the interactions that take place in the group, among the members, in the here and now. Through repeated experiences within the group, the members learn about their maladaptive interpersonal responses and perceptions which repeatedly evoke negative reactions from others.

Group leaders accommodate all varieties of learning disabilities. Techniques to foster the group process include:

  • Clarifying verbal and nonverbal messages
  • Monitoring discussions to ensure that members follow the conversations
  • Facilitating interactions in which group members talk to and/or acknowledge one another.

The developmental stages of the children and adolescents are taken into account in planning the format. According to the needs and strengths of the group members, groups utilize varying combinations of therapeutic activities, discussion and structure.

The group leaders' interventions and understanding of the interactions within the group are guided by the assumption that feeling understood is needed for self development. Rather than directly teach 'appropriate' behaviour, the leaders try to understand and interpret the child's or adolescent's behaviour in relation to his/her feelings and interactions within the group. The leaders help group members to express their needs and to support and challenge one another.

For information on how to obtain our Find a Friend group services, please refer to Admissions.