Training in Core Social Skills

Summer Interactive Skills Sessions

This is a fun week-long psycho-educational group consisting of 5 sessions, Monday to Friday. Each session is 3 or 3.5 hours in length.

Participants will be invited to engage in fun and interesting activities in which they interact with others. During each session, the facilitators assess the needs of the participants while they engage in activities or discussions, and provide coaching to achieve successful outcomes. Activities may include outdoor games, conversations, scavenger hunts, card/board games, group building games, construction, art projects, and LEGO challenges.

A session for parents is held before the start of the program, where the supervising psychologist provides parents with an overview of the program philosophy and coaching language and techniques we use with the children we work with, so that parents may coach their child at home to help generalize the skills outside of the program. This is both a good introduction to our Training in Core Social Skills Program and a great way to practice previously learned skills for those who have been with us before!

Our goal is to help children enhance their ability to understand social interaction and build skills and confidence in interacting with others successfully and comfortably.

Emphasis will be on the following:

  • Creating opportunities for participants to engage in social interaction.

  • Providing “on the spot” coaching to participants to help them overcome barriers they experience with social interaction.

  • Providing a safe and caring environment for students to develop skills in successfully connecting with others.

  • Teaching conversational skills, cooperation and problem-solving skills, inviting, questioning and initiating skills in a fun and interactive way. And most importantly, teaching social cognition, the foundation of understanding ourselves in relation to others.

Summer Program 1

July 22-26, 2024

6–9 year olds:  9 AM – 12 PM

8–11 year olds: 1 – 4:30 PM

Parent Session Date and Time: July 18, 2024, from 7–8:30 PM

Summer Program 2

August 12-16, 2024

7–10 year olds:  9 AM – 12 PM

 12–15 year olds: 1 – 4:30 PM

Parent Session Date and Time: Aug. 8, 2024, from 7–8:30 PM

Registration for Summer 2024 is Closed.

Summer Program 3

August 19-23, 2024

6–9 year olds:  9 AM – 12 PM

 10–12 year olds: 1 – 4:30 PM

Parent Session Date and Time: Aug. 15, 2024, from 7–8:30 PM

Summer Program Information

  • The program is billed at $44/hour.

    Cost for the 9:00-noon program is $44/hr x 17 hrs.

    Cost for the 1:00-4:30 p.m. program is $44/hr x 19.5 hrs.

    Cost includes 1 parent training session, parent handouts, and 5 child sessions which include psychological consultation, intervention development and individual and group coaching.

    The cost of psychological services may be reimbursed by your extended health insurance or sponsored by government programs such as FSCD (Family Services for Children with Disabilities), Supports for Permanency, McMan, and UP (Unlimited Potential Community Services) if you are a client. Appropriate receipts will be provided at the time of the program.

  • Contact us at office@eckertchildpsych.ca or call (780) 454-4634 to discuss whether this group would be appropriate for your child. A 30-minute intake interview will be scheduled and if the program will be a good fit for your child, a registration form will then be emailed to you.

    Prior program participants do not need to do an intake interview.

    As programs fill up, waitlists will be taken. Please contact us for more info!