Social skills therapy recs. for an 18 year old high schooler?
Hello. My daughter's school is requiring that she begin social skills therapy, either group or individual, before returning in the fall to finish the second semester of her senior year. She attends a school with a therapeutic component for kids with mild to moderate learning disabilities. It's a great school for her. But, she has been speaking very harshly to some of the other kids, including those who have little control over the behaviors that irritate her.
She came to live with us at nine after three years in the foster care system. She is diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety and non-specific mental health disorders. She sees a therapist. She is on some medication and so also sees a psychiatrist. Her therapist is a little doubtful that she's ready for social skills therapy but our daughter says she is willing to try. We live in Oakland. I've reached out to the organizations below. I'm hoping for other suggestions for teen groups (that take 18 year olds) or comments on experiences with these organizations
Seven Bridges. No current appropriate groups but might be able to offer individual online therapy. Online school went really badly so I'm a little doubtful about this option.
Social Learning Therapy: No current appropriate groups but they have openings for in person individual therapy. They're in Corte Madera but if she liked the therapist we could swing it in spite of the fact that both parents work full time
UCSF - Center for ASD and NDD: They don't take her insurance and won't do self-pay.
Therathrive: She's on the waiting list for RPG group for teens
Thank you all!
Parent Replies
Hello! While I’m not sure if she works with older teens, my son had group social skills classes with Susan Diamond in Alameda when he was 13 & 14. He and we (parents get a 5-10 min check in at the end of each weekly group session) got a lot out of her sessions and, while still a quiet kid, he made a lot of great progress during his time in Susan’s group.
Our son started during the pandemic, so all sessions were held on Zoom. It’s possible she is still holding them that way. If not, she holds group at her home office on the east end of Alameda (High St exit off 880).
I’d encourage you to check her out! Please tell her a fairly recently graduated family from Alameda referred you.
best of luck!
Hi parent;
I'm sorry to hear this. You've got your daughter in a good educational setting and with other supports which is wonderful. I was in a similar situation (fost-adopt of child now an adult) and getting help for our kids can be difficult. While I had insurance through my employer and could have easily added my son at no cost to me, I choose to continue to access services(medical and mental health) for him via Medi-Cal, which he was provided with as an infant. This was mainly due to the ability for him to recieve care from specialist without limiations (such as number of sessions versus with my insurance visits would have been "capped."). Does your daughter have Medi-Cal? If yes then contact her case manager from the county you adopted her from and they should be able to help you navigate the system to get her the help she needs. The case manager might be able to get her "placed" in a group.
You might also consider reaching out to Willows in the Wind which is a parent support group mainly for parents whose children have been in or are in residential treatment facilities. Eventhough your daughter isn't in this situation, this a group of well educated and "connected" parents who have knowlege of every program out there. Many kids transition home and continue to need help, such as behaviorist. I found them helpful some years back and best thing is that they "get it." There is no stigma at all. Check them out at www.willowsinthewind.com
I applaud your efforts and hope you can find a good behaviorist for her soon.
We had a good experience with a social skills group led by Lisa and Elyse at Cameron Speech Language Center. If they don't already have one that your daughter can join (getting all the right mix of levels, ages and skills together can be challenging and require a lot of patience), they can do individualized sessions pending space. They are quite busy, but both are very compassionate and adept! They are located in Orinda and don't take insurance but you can self-pay. https://cameronspeech-languagecenter.com/
https://cameronspeech-languagecenter.com/