Located in Center City, Haverford, Paoli, and Plymouth Meeting, PA,

AoF has provided cutting edge social & coping skills therapy in the Philadelphia area since 2000. 

SOCIAL SKILLS SIMPLIFIED...& FUN

Explore our website to learn how our innovative, award-winning approach to social skills development has been the fun solution for over a thousand children and teens. Weekly, one-hour groups are offered for young people, between the ages of 4 - 19 years, both with AND WITHOUT diagnoses such as High Functioning Autism, ADHD, learning differences, and anxiety.

  Why is no other social skills program quite like the Art of Friendship? We love and understand the way our clients THINK and FEEL. Expert therapists... 

• TEACH SOCIAL COGNITION & SOCIAL SKILLS PLUS EMOTIONAL COPING SKILLS

• THOUGHTFULLY PLACE CHILDREN IN PEER GROUPS WITH SIMILAR AGES, DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS, & CHALLENGES

• PROVIDE AN ONGOING GROUP RELATIONSHIP FORMAT SO CHILDREN CAN BLOSSOM AT THEIR PACE & REACH THEIR PERSONAL POTENTIAL

IN:  

• Social Cognition-Focused Social-Coping Groups: 
• have a hard time reading social cues
• understanding unwritten social rules
• lack awarenesss that their behaviors cause others' reactions
• need to improve initiation and sustained positive social engagement with peers  

• Impulse Control-Focused Social-Coping Groups:
  
• struggle to socialize because of physical or verbal impulsiveness
• act before thinking and don't realize the impact of impulsiveness
• need to learn how to downshift from hyper-speed to a "medium" social speed
• need to develop self-awareness, regulation, & break strategies to manage high energy & fidgety body 
• Anxiety-Focused Social-Coping Groups:
• experience phobias, generalized, or social anxiety and have the impulse to avoid discomfort
• feel socially awkward and don't feel comfortable socializing
• find that anxiety paralyzes them and makes them feel too "tight" to converse or play
• need to develop and practice CBT coping skills with peers
• Frustration Tolerance/Anger Management-Focused Social-Coping Groups:
• overreact to common events with high frustration or anger
• conflict and argue with peers and adults 
• struggle with cognitive rigidity and only want things to go their way
• need to improve real-time healthy assertiveness, flexibility, and problem-solving
• benefit from CBT coping skills and Mindfulness to develop self-regulation skills
• Victims of Bullying-Focused Social-Coping Groups:
• feel victimized a lot, shrinking their confidence & causing them to feel small or weak
• tend to be kind, gentle, or passive children & get targeted by bold or aggressive peers
• due to difficulty reading social cues, struggle to differentiate everyday joking/teasing from true meanness & bullying behavior
• don't know what to say or do in the face of unkind words or actions
• benefit from a personal-power project to gain confidence that they can cope with teasers, bullies, and difficult kids