Social challenges are widely varied and exist for a multitude of reasons, but despite the cause, all children want to be accepted by their peers.  Through the combination of social skills training and group support, children can be taught how to earn peer acceptance, initiate friendships, and act appropriately so that others will want to engage their company. 

At CPS, we understand the value of such “people” skills and have historically put in place several programs to assist children in need of social skills development and peer support.  In order to manage the growing demands for such programs, we are pleased to announce that Katie Plonskier, MSW has joined the CPS team as an individual therapist and our full-time Social Skill Group Facilitator.   A graduate from New York University’s Masters in Social Work program, Katie comes to us with excellent experience serving New York and South Florida children of all ages in various clinical roles, such as individual and family therapist.  We are excited to see what she has in store for the children.

Historically, we have run a variety of social skills groups in a format where children gain experience in managing social behaviors in real world settings.  Katie will be launching several new groups in which children will be introduced to appropriate interaction skills, given an opportunity to practice these skills under the guidance of clinicians, and shown that they can be accepted unconditionally by their peers. 

Families interested in learning more about available groups in their community should contact Katie Plonskier at (954) 577-3396 to arrange an intake meeting, where your child’s unique needs and the appropriateness of our groups for meeting those needs will be discussed.

For more information about our current social skills groups, click here.