Individual therapy may be more effective (at least initially) than group training to work on motivation, attending, anxiety, frustration management and replacing disruptive behaviors.

"80% of good teaching is fostering motivation to learn, the other 20% is identifying out how best to teach and generalize skills."

— Jed Baker, Ph.D.

Group social skills training allows students to learn skills and practice them in an interactive format with others. Moreover, a goal of group training is to make friends with the other members. We try to match students by cognitive and language ability, special interest, age, and geographic compatibility in order to maximize the potential for friendship.

Groups typically meet once a week for one hour in 12 week cycles. Many students continue for a number of cycles. Groups typically have a structured skill lesson and a less structured conversation and/or activity time to practice the skills learned during skill lessons. Often groups are centered on a theme that is enjoyable to the students. In the past we have had gaming, cooking, film, book, robotics, arts and crafts, and theatre clubs.

Family counseling or parent training is often indicated when students are having behavioral difficulties. We offer parent training to help parents effectively manage disruptive behaviors and teach their children better ways to get what they need.

Individual counseling is helpful when students have suffered a trauma (e.g. loss of a family member, parental divorce, harassment from peers) or is having difficulty with their identity and self-esteem. Individual sessions can help students develop more realistic and positive perceptions of themselves.