Friendship

Purpose of the Group: Children in early elementary school are starting to make the transition from only thinking of themselves to seeing another’s perspective, which in turn allows for more meaningful friendships to be made. During this time, children are also navigating through the process of how to make friends, which may not always come easy to them. The purpose of this group is to provide children ages 5-9 with a safe space to explore, learn, and develop age-appropriate social skills to be a good friend.  Throughout the 6 weeks group, members will work on understanding what being a good friend looks like, how to make new friends, being kind, and conflict resolution skills.

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Group Structure: All group sessions will begin with an open discussion for group members to share thoughts, updates, progress, and/or setbacks about the previous week. Group members are encouraged to share only to the extent that they feel comfortable. Each week a new topic and discussion prompt is presented by the group facilitator, along with an activity. To end the group session members will summarize the week’s topic, discuss goals to work on before the next meeting, and are encouraged to participate in a short mindfulness exercise. Group structure is subject to change based on group members’ needs during sessions.