Social Skills Training The ability to interact effectively with others in a social community or environment and is ascribed by society

y as a critical factor of peer acceptance. A teaching process aimed at achieving social competence. *Social Competence- ability to gained desired effects or responses through communication and interaction. *Social Skills- set of goal-directed interrelated social behavior which can be learned and which are under the control of the individual. *Social Inadequacy The person is unable to produce the desired effect on the behavior and feelings of other people that he wants and which society accepts. They appear isolated, cold, inept, unassertive, bad-tempered, and unrewarding. They have difficulty in communicating with others and in forming and maintaining meaningful relationship. Causes: Deprived or adequate models of social behaviors in his significant figures of influence. Genetic influences that the innate predispositions of the child actively influence his social experiences. Theoretical Basis a. Humanistic i. Carl Rogers - Non-directive/client centered therapy - Every person has a good human core and contains within him the potentialities for healthy and creative growth. - Man has both the ability and motivation to change. ii. Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of needs - Most of the needs are fulfilled with other people especially belongingness and love. - He assumed that people have an inborn nature that is essentially good. Some of the instincts are bad or antisocial and must be tamed by training and socialization. b. Behavioral i. Learning of social skills can be broken down into identifiable units of behavior ii. 2 Important Features 1. The skill or behavioral learning goal may be broken down into smaller more manageable parts 2. They can be learned separately and then put back together into more complex skill needed c. Social Learning i. Albert Bandura - Focused on patterns of behavior which are learned by the child and in turn help him cope with his environment. - Emphasizes the importance of reciprocal interaction between persons behavior and his environment and the need of having adequate models. - Treatment techniques includes imitation, modeling, reinforcement

Nature of Social Skills 5 Main Components 1. Socially Skilled Behaviors (SSB) which is goal directed. 2. Socially Skilled Behaviors (SSB) should be interrelated. 3. Social Skills (SS) are defined in terms of identifiable units of behavior. 4. SS are comprised of behaviors which can be learned. 5. SS should be under the control of the individual. i. Socially Skilled- learn and can use behavior appropriately. ii. Socially Inadequate- have learned units of behavior but cant use/integrate. Social Skills Model Indicates ways in which social performances can fail and how training procedures may effectively improve. Emphasis is on man pursuing social and other goals, acting according to rules and monitoring his performance through feedback from the environment.

Perception Motivation/Goal Translation Motor Responses Feedback

Motivation/Goal General vs. Specific Long Term vs. Short Term Perception Gaining information from the environment through senses. 2 most important in social interaction: sight and hearing. Translation Process by which the individual translate perception he gets into plan of action. Motor Responses Plan of action is converted to observable behavior, whether verbal or non-verbal. Feedback. Changes in the environment through non-verbal, verbal and visual cues. Allows individual to assess the effect of his behavior.

Division of Social Skills a. Non-Verbal Communication Purpose/s: i. to replace, compliment, reinforce, emphasize, regulate the flow of verbal communication ii. to initiate or sustain verbal communication iii. to influence other peoples behavior or define acceptable patterns of behavior Forms:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Bodily Contact Proximity Orientation Posture Gestures and Body Movement Facial Expression Eye Contact Appearance Paralanguage

b. Verbal Communication Forms: 1. Instructions and directions 2. Questions 3. Comments, Suggestions and Information 4. Informal chat or gossip 5. Performative Utterance 6. Social Routines 7. Expressing Emotions and Attitudes 8. Latent Messages Misconception about Social Competence 1. A person who is socially competent is so in every situation. 2. A social skill is always used for social purposes. Role of OT in SST 1. Help patient achieve fullest potential possible in social skills Fundamental Social Skills are hampered by: 1. Psychotic symptoms 2. Reinforcement of a sick role 3. Disuse 4. Concrete Cognition 5. Rapid pace of setting 6. Few opportunities to practice social skills Selection of Patients for SST 1. Depressive states 2. Anxiety states 3. Phobic states 4. Obsessive-Compulsive states 5. Alcoholism and drug addiction 6. Behavioral Problems and Personality Disorder 7. Epilepsy 8. Schizophrenia Assessment

 Find out social behavior of the person. Evaluation is performed to determine those skills required by the patient in order to make satisfactory return to the community. Ask patients family, past relationships, other members of the staff who are in frequent contact with the patient. Use of Non-verbal Checklist, Behavioral Charting, the IE Scale and Social Skills Checklist Treatment Planning and Implementation Step 1: Assessment review Follow up Step 2: Establish intrinsic motivation Step 3: Exploration with patient of social skills problems Step 4: Review psychological/cognitive status Step 5: Review occupational behavior i. Intrinsic Motivation- stems from gratification of performing or completing an activity ii. Competency Motive- an attempt to contact and master, manipulate and exert control over environment. iii. Achievement Motive- based on experienced in problem solving tasks and involves meeting performance standards for task completion. iv. Problem Solving- process by which a patient discovers the correct sequence of alternatives leading to a goal. v.Decision Making- involves formulating a plan of action and following through with it. Step 6: Develop and Prioritize Goals i. 1st priority is to learn sufficient social skills ii. Less complex skills Step 7: Obtain staff and patient cooperation Step 8: Review goals and progress Step 9: Modify goals and methods SST Training Techniques Small group with 6-8 persons Weekly meeting; 75 minutes/session An outline/handout is given a week before each session During the session, relaxation techniques are given then practice takes place Goals are set at the end of each session Operant home program SST Model of Argyle encourages transfer of learning to real-life situations and provides opportunity to learn and improve skills SST Principles I. Title and Introduction Examines the purpose of the group and the topic of discussion and should include the following points: i. much of the information collected will be commonsense ii. each patient has SS ability but could benefit from improving that skill level iii. communication is a skill and like other skills, improves with practice

iv.

a comparison is drawn to specific patients recreational skills and skill improvement through practice As part of the intro, the following learning points are used: i. a definition of passive/non-assertive, assertive and aggressive behavior and of what such behaviors communicate to another person. - Assertiveness. Behaviors which enables the person to act in his/her own best interests, to stand up for himself/herself, without due anxiety, to express honest feelings comfortably, or to exercise personal rights without denying the rights of others. - Non-assertion. Failing to stand up for oneself, or allowing ones rights to be easily violated. - Aggression. Standing up for oneself by violating the rights of another person; frequently involves putting down the other person. ii. a clear description of how non-assertive behavior results in depressed feelings, hopelessness/helplessness and reduces self-image iii. assertive behavior is not appropriate for all situations. II. Role Playing Goal is to provide a realistic rehearsal of a SS that can be used in real life. The following points should be considered: i. In the discussion-activity phase, the OT should be listening for individual problems within SS in order to determine who will be included in the role playing. ii. The group leader should decide who will be role-playing with those patients needed to practice SS. iii. The group leader will ask the patient chosen to role-play situations concerning the difficulties in using the skills. iv. The stage is set by creating an atmosphere akin to real life setting. v. The patient is given concrete step-by-step directions to follow in practicing the skills. The patient is instructed to see the role-play through its completion and not to step out of the role to make comments or ask questions. vi. The remaining patients are asked to listen for specific events in the role play. On conclusion, patients are asked to give positive and negative feedback. vii. If a patient has a major difficulty completing the role-play, the group leader can stop the roleplay and reiterate the direction III. Anger Management Involves the use of an anger scale questionnaire which is used to cover learning points to topics of expressing and responding to anger. Patients are instructed to estimate the degree of anger in which they feel for each situation and then to check their anger rating. Anger Scale 0= Very little anger 1= Somewhat irritated 2= Moderately upset 3= Quite angry 4= Very angry IV. Wrap-Up

During the summary, the OT should: Summarize points of discussion and reiterate the relevance of improving SS. Ask if there are any questions about the topic Gives patients who role-play homework assignments and ask if there are any questions about what is expected iv. End the group by telling the patients when they will next meet i. ii. iii. References: Peck, C. and Hong, C.S. Living Skills for Mentally Handicapped People.