Social Skill and Training

Social skills training is a well recognized behavior therapy. It is evidence based for several psychological disorders. Many organizations exist for behaviour therapists around the world. ANTBC with the World Association for Behavior Analysis offers a certification in behavior therapy, which covers social skills training techniques.
Our major goal of social skills training is teaching persons who may or may not have emotional problems about the verbal as well as nonverbal behaviors involved in social interactions. There are many people who have never been taught such interpersonal skills as making "small talk" in social settings, or the importance of good eye contact during a conversation. In addition, many people have not learned to "read" the many subtle cues contained in social interactions, such as how to tell when someone wants to change the topic of conversation or shift to another activity. Social skills training helps patients to learn to interpret these and other social signals, so that they can determine how to act appropriately in the company of other people in a variety of different situations. Sociol Skills Trainig proceeds on the assumption that when people improve their social skills or change selected behaviors, they will raise their self-esteem and increase the likelihood that others will respond favorably to them. Trainees learn to change their social behavior patterns by practicing selected behaviors in individual or group therapy sessions. Another goal of social skills training is improving a patient's ability to function in everyday social situations. Social skills training can help patients to work on specific issues for example, improving one's telephone manners that interfere with their jobs or daily lives.